Total elbow arthroplasty in patients who have elbow fractures caused by gunshot injuries: 8- to 12-year follow-up study

Introduction

In this retrospective study, we aimed to present 8–12-year clinical and radiographic evaluation of total elbow arthroplasty in young patients who had open fractures due to gunshot injuries.

Materials and methods

The study included a consecutive series of seven patients who had insertion of total elbow prosthesis (semi-constrained type) for the treatment of comminuted intra-articular elbow fractures resulting from gunshot injuries between 1994 and 1998. All patients were male and the mean age at the time of operation was 23 years.

Results

The average time from the original fracture to the joint replacement was 26 months (range 14–39). The mean follow-up period was 117 ± 15 months. At the time of the latest follow-up, 5 of 7 elbows had a poor result. Radiological evaluations revealed that three patients had ulnar and two patients had humeral component loosening at the last follow-up examination. No intra-operative complications were observed. In the long-term evaluation, two patients had prosthesis loosening that resulted from deep infection and three patients had aseptic loosening that necessitated re-operation. The prosthesis removal was performed.

Conclusion

As a result, the patients in whom we implemented total elbow prosthesis in comminuted elbow fractures due to gunshot wounds seemed to get back into active life in the early period without any problem and it seemed that their pain disappeared and their functional capacity increased. In the long period, however, these values showed a distinct decrease with the same patients.