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Gender, preoperative tendon status linked with poorer results after arthroscopic extensor carpi radialis brevis release
This retrospective review of data for patients with chronic refractory lateral epicondylitis treated with arthroscopic extensor carpi radialis brevis release showed significantly improved clinical outcomes and indicated patient gender and preoperative tendon status correlated with patient dissatisfaction and lower outcome scores.
The study included 45 patients with a mean age of 45.9 ± 7.8 years who underwent arthroscopic extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) and had a mean follow-up of 26.9 ± 9 months. Researchers examined and analyzed patients’ demographic data, MRIs, and arthroscopic results. ECRB tendon status was classified with the use of MRI scans.
Preoperatively and at 1-year postoperative, researchers evaluated patients using VAS, Upper Extremity Functional Scale (UEFS), Mayo Elbow Score (MES) and grip- strength measurements. At final follow-up, patient satisfaction was evaluated and patients were categorized into either a satisfied group or dissatisfied group.
Investigators discovered VAS, UEFS and MES scores significantly improved from preoperative values. Women had poorer clinical scores for VAS, UEFS and MES compared with men. Overall, no serious surgical complications were observed, according to researchers.
Thirty-seven patients were satisfied with the procedure and eight patients were dissatisfied. Patients in the dissatisfied group had significantly poorer outcomes for the VAS, UEFS and MES as well as grip-strength compared with satisfied patients. There were more women in the satisfied group compared with the dissatisfied cohort (15 patients vs. seven patients). However, the satisfied and dissatisfied groups were not significantly different with regards to age, duration of symptoms, history of treatment and amount of previous surgical injections.
According to MRI results, seven patients in the satisfied group had a grade III defect and six dissatisfied patients had grade III defects. Patients were 12.8-times more likely to be dissatisfied with surgical treatment if they had grade III lesions compared with patients with grade I or II lesions. ‒ by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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