Efficacy of total elbow arthroplasty through Diamond-Pop approach for treatment of elbow trauma or arthritis / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

The most common indications for total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) are rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and post-traumatic arthritis. However, with the rapid development of the prosthesis and surgical techniques, the indications of TEA have been expanded to post-traumatic instability, failure of internal fixation, and acute comminuted distal humeral fractures in elderly patients. The most common complications of the classic Bryan-Morrey approach are postoperative ulnar nerve symptoms and weakness of the triceps muscle. Although the triceps-sparing approach enters the elbow joint through both sides of the triceps and retains the triceps brachii, it adds the operation difficulty and there still exist problems regarding postoperative ulnar nerve symptoms, extensive subcutaneous dissection, and large amount of drainage. In September 2018, Professor O'Driscoll introduced his modified small tongue-shaped flap approach, named as Diamond-Pop approach, but it has not been reported yet in recent literatures. The authors conducted a retrospective case series study to evaluate the clinical outcomes of 20 patients with elbow trauma or arthritis treated by TEA using this approach in Beijing Jishuitan Hospital from September 2018 to September 2019.