Total elbow arthroplasty in grossly comminuted intercondylar fracture humerus in elderly population: Results and analysis

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose was to evaluate short to medium term outcome of total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) in the grossly comminuted intercondylar fracture humerus in the elderly population. Patients and Methods: It is a prospective study. Data were collected from the patients attended with intercondylar fracture humerus in a tertiary care hospital from June 2009 to July 2014. Thirty-five patients attended with intercondylar fracture humerus in these periods. We had done 13 cases of primary TEA for comminuted intercondylar fracture of the distal humerus. Grossly comminuted fracture, osteoporotic bone and age more than 65 years were considered for TEA. All the patients were evaluated at 6 weeks after the operation, and then at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. We used the Mayo score to assess the functional results. Results: Mean age of the patients was 70.84 years (range: 66–78 years). Of thirteen patients, nine patients were female, and four patients were male. The mean interval between the time of the accident and operation was 4.07 days (range: 2–10 days). The mean hospital stay was 12 days (range: 8–16 days). The mean follow-up was for 19.46 months (range: 18–31 months). All the elbows were stable. The mean flexion was to 115.38° (90°–140°). The mean arc of rotational movement was 161.53° (130°–180°). Eleven patients had no limitation of daily living, and two had some limitation of daily living. Mean Mayo score was 93.84 (range: 85–100). One patient developed osteolysis around the stem of the prosthesis in the humerus in follow-up radiograph, but the clinically patient had no complaint. Three patients had a surgical site infection, and two patients had ulnar nerve paresis but infection controlled after 7–10 days and nerve paresis completely cured after 3–4 months. Conclusion: The primary TEA in a case of grossly comminuted intercondylar fracture humerus in elderly population gives comparable short to medium term results.