Non-arthroplasty management of elbow arthritis

Elbow arthritis presents as two major forms; rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. Both present with varying degrees of symptom severity and as such it is important that the surgeon is aware not only of the possibility of treatment by total elbow arthroplasty but also of the conservative surgical options.We discuss the different types of non-arthroplasty treatment for rheumatoid elbow including arthroscopic and open synovectomy with and without radial head excision. We describe primary and secondary osteoarthritis and outline the management options including ulnohumeral arthroplasty, the OK procedure and the Lateral Column procedure.