Linked total elbow arthroplasty associated with low complication rates at 4-year follow-up

NEW ORLEANS — Orthopedic surgeons from Liverpool, United Kingdom, who prospectively studied a linked elbow arthroplasty system in 100 consecutive patients found an acceptable rate of major complications at a mean follow-up of 4 years.

Simon Frostick, MD, who presented the findings at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting, here, said that the follow-up of these patients was ongoing.

Frostick and colleagues treated these patients, who had various pathologies, with the Discovery Elbow System (Biomet; Warsaw, Ind.) in primary and revision procedures.

“The Liverpool Elbow Score improved in all main pathology groups,” Frostick said, and those groups included patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and fractures.

The outcomes were assessed by an independent entity.

The rate of infection in the series was 2%, and the 4% loosening rate that the investigators reported at the last follow-up was from 60 patients.

“The ulnar neuropathy rate was comparable to other series,” Frostick said.

Reference:

Frostick S. Paper #31. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; March 11-15, 2014; New Orleans.

Disclosure: Frostick receives royalties from Biomet; is on the speakers bureau for Biomet, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer; is a paid consultant to Biomet, Boehringer-Ingelheim and DePuy, a Johnson & Johnson Company; and receives research/institutional support from DePuy and Biomet.