Clinical outcomes of arthroscopic surgical management of patients with stiff elbows caused by loose bodies

Introduction and aim: Loose bodies of the elbow are developmental or acquired, complex and uncommon entities. In this study we aimed to evaluate the functional and radiological outcomes of patients with loose body in the elbow who were treated with elbow arthroscopy. Methods: 35 patients with loose body in the elbow who were arthroscopically operated between 2013 and 2016 were included in this study. Classification of loose bodies were done according to Broberg-Morrey classification. In this retrospective study; pain outcomes were evaluated according to Vas scores whereas functional outcomes were evaluated according to modified Broberg and Morrey and Mayo elbow performance scores. Results: 23 of 35 elbows were operated in lateral decubitus positions whereas 12 patients were operated in prone positions. Rate of complication is consistent with current articles. Evaluation of functional scores revealed 22 (62.9%) excellent results, 8 (22.9%) good results and 5 (14.2%) moderate results Conclusions: Arthroscopic management of the loose bodies in the elbow joint which is effective and most frequently preferred therapeutic procedure, is a technically demanding operation with low complication rates only in experienced teams. We observed that our radiological and functional outcomes in our series were consistent with the current literature in 35 cases. Studies with larger number of patients are required for better evaluation of the outcomes. Key Words: Loose body, elbow arthroscopy, surgical management