Do you have any locking, clicking or pain in the elbow, particularly when bending your elbow or straightening your arm? Have you noticed a loss of motion with your elbow?
You may have a contracture or loose bodies in your elbow, and elbow arthroscopy may be used to treat these injuries. There are new techniques for elbow arthroscopy that are less invasive than the older open surgery techniques. Elbow arthroscopy can also provide for quicker recovery.
In this video, Elbow Specialist Dr. J. Michael Bennett discusses recent advances in elbow arthroscopy and minimally invasive surgical techniques. He’s a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and a Fellowship Trained Sports Doctor serving patients from the Greater Houston area from offices in Sugar Land and in Houston, near the Galleria. Call for an appointment at 281-633-8600 in Sugar Land or 713-234-3152 in Houston.
Today I wanted to talk to you about some of the newer techniques regarding elbow surgery. This is a standard elbow model (he presents an elbow model). As far as the older techniques regarding elbow procedures, particularly when it comes to contracture releases or even removing a loose fragment within a joint, it usually required an open release such as a large incision on the lateral side of the elbow, or the medial side of the elbow.
Over the past 10 to 15 years, elbow arthroscopy has become the preferred method for the treatment of contracture releases of the elbow or even removing loose fragments within the elbow.
Elbow arthroscopy requires two small incisions less than a centimeter in size, one on the medial side, one on the lateral side of the elbow. We put a camera about half the size of this pen within the joint and release some of the scar tissue in the front and manipulate the elbow to get your motion back. A contracture is where you do not have full range of motion of the elbow. Sometimes we have to make an additional incision posteriorly to remove some of the scar tissue at the back of the elbow, to get the flexion back, and this will allow you to gain an acceptable arc of motion.
Occasionally there will be bone spurs or even loose fragments in the front or in the back of the elbow that can easily be removed with an arthroscopic scope.
The good news is that this is significantly less invasive than the previous procedures described, and the recovery is significantly faster. And this is an area of expertise that we have been specifically trained on, in arthroscopic and minimally invasive procedures.
So if you have any locking, clicking or pain in the elbow particularly with any flexion or extension, or you notice a loss of motion with the elbow, I would suggest you be evaluated by an orthopedic specialist specifically one trained in orthopedic arthroscopy and minimally invasive procedures.
If you’re experiencing pain or loss of motion or clicking of the elbow, please call our Sugar Land office for an appointment at 281-633-8600 or our Houston office at 713-234-3152.
Want to see what’s involved in an orthopedic elbow examination? Dr. Bennett recorded a video demonstrating an exam.
This is an animation which explains various elbow injuries and treatments including elbow arthroscopy.
