[Lateral humeral epicondylitis. A postoperative evaluation]

From 1.1.1982 to 31.12.1941 45 patients with 50 elbows were operated at Holstebro Central Hospital under the diagnosis epicondylitis lateralis humeri. The material consisted of 29 females and 16 males with an average at operation of 41.1 years (21-61 years). At that time the patients had had symptoms for approximately 2.8 years (0.5-25 years), and they had all received conservative treatment without effect. Forty-seven patients were operated with a tenotomy of caput commune extensorum, and three patients had a lengthening of the m. extensor carpi radialis performed. At follow-up at an average of 83.1 months postoperatively (16-127 months) 61% were working whereas none of them had been working preoperatively. Forty-six per cent were satisfied with the result. These results do not differ from what other authors have found, and today it seems that everybody agrees that only patients who have tried conservative treatment without improvement should be offered an operation. In a study recently published, histopathologic examination of the tissue of those patients who had no effect of conservative treatment showed degenerative changes rather than inflammatory changes, and this could be a reason why some patients have no effect of immobilisation and treatment with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs.