Clinical signs, x-ray imaging and MRI correlate with arthroscopic findings in cases of deep cartilage lesions. In intact or low-grade degenerated cartilage often results an overestimating of these findings.
Background The lateral collateral ligament complex is the key structure involved in recurrent elbow instability. Treatment is surgical, by repair or reconstruction of the lateral collateral ligament complex. We evaluated the effect of arthroscopic electrothermal shrinkage for treatment of chronic posterolateral rotator elbow instability.Methods 21 patients, median age 32 (24-50) years, suffering from chronic lateral elbow instability underwent arthroscopic electrothermal ligament shrinkage with a bipolar shrinkage probe. All patients were available for follow-up after median 30 (8-48) months.Results No complications were seen. The Morrey score increased from 40 to 77 points. The result was moderate (50-80 points) in 10 patients, and in the other patients a good result was achieved (80-95 points). The manual stress radiography showed a mean lateral joint opening of 13 (8-18) mm preoperatively. During followup, it decreased to 2 (1-4) mm.Interpretation Our findings suggest that arthroscopic bipolar ligament shrinkage is sufficient for the treatment of chronic posterolateral rotator elbow instability.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.