Abstract
Elbow tuberculosis (TB) is not rare in China. Most patients are diagnosed when it is at an advanced stage and with bony ankylosis complications. For a developing country, such as China, it is important for there to be safe and cost-effective procedures. A retrospective study was designed to assess the effects of improved forked excision arthroplasty for treating elbow TB. There were 20 patients (average age, 48.45 years). For all patients, the preoperative diagnosis was elbow TB at an advanced stage. All patients underwent forked excision arthroplasty. Patients were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively with the Mayo's elbow performance score (MEPS). Mean follow-up was at 74.4 months. At the last follow-up, the mean postoperative MEPS was 83.7 compared with the preoperative MEPS of 20.25. Results of Mayo's elbow performance index were excellent in seven patients, good in 12 and fair in one, and none were poor. The range of elbow motion also improved significantly. This study of forked elbow excision arthroplasty has shown promising results for treating elbow TB. Most patients had ideal postoperative outcomes and exhibited painless elbow joints, with satisfactory functional recovery at medium-term follow-up. Further studies with longer follow-up are warranted. III.
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