TOTAL ELBOW ARTHROPLASTY IN PRIMARY OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE ELBOW

Primary osteoarthritis of the elbow is an infrequent condition typical ly managed by some form of debridement. There is no comment in the lit erature regarding prosthetic replacement for this condition. We report 5 patients (mean age, 68), with a minimum assessment of 3 years (rang e, 37-125 years) after total elbow arthroplasty. Complications in 4 pa tients included subluxation, fracture of a humeral component with part iculate synovitis, heterotopic ossification, recurrent osteophyte form ation, and transient ulnar neuropathy. Although revision was required in 2 of the 5, currently all experience had satisfactory outcomes. Whi le replacement has proven ultimately to be a successful option for thi s high-demand patient group because of the high complication rate, we do not recommend replacement unless alternate operative options are de emed unacceptable.