Surgical debridement of epicondyles. a 10-year follow up of 100 cases
Kénési, C.; Marchal, L.
Revue du Rhumatisme et des Maladies Osteo-Articulaires 58(2): 89-92
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0035-2659 PMID: 2042012 Document Number: 387913
A single method was used in all cases: debridement of the radial head and exeresis of the apophysis. The statistics presented are derived from 100 elbows operated in 90 patients between 1970 and 1988. Fifty-four (54%) of the patients were men. Thirty-one (31) of the patients regularly took part in sport. Eighty-seven (87) cases were subjected to histopathological examination. Eighty-two (82) showed major signs of insertion tendinitis. With a mean follow-up of 7 years 4 months, the rate of good or very good results was 88% in subjective terms and 85% in objective terms. It was possible to examine 34 elbows on two occasions, 4 and 12 years after the surgery. No long-term self-deterioration or recurrence was observed. Fair or poor results were obtained in cases of malingerers claiming occupational accident, patients who had too quickly recommended physically demanding work, and cases associating other lesions (cervico-brachial neuralgia, epitrochleitis). All of these cases involved dubious indications for surgery. To conclude, this method is obviously intended only for cases in which medical treatment has been unsuccessful (and these are unusual). In nearly 9 out of 10 such cases, the procedure achieves an improvement.