What are your symptoms?
The elbow can suffer many lesions caused by trauma or repetitive movements. The menu above will allow you to explore the treatments offered at the Clinique Chirurgicale de Laval for various elbow aches.
Elbow pain
The elbow is included in all the movements of the upper limb. Manual tasks stimulate the origin of the tendons of the forearm and of the hand. Strain can cause a painful degenerative condition that can go as far as rupturing. We must first identify the most painful site to perform an accurate diagnosis.
Pain in the lateral side of the elbow is often caused by lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow). Pain in the medial side of the elbow is called medial epicondylitis (golfer elbow), while pain in the posterior side is caused by either tendinitis or triceps rupture and in the anterior side, the pain can stem from either a bicipital bursitis or a biceps rupture.
What can be done?
The elbow must be rested in a sling. Heat or ice help control the pain. Analgesic or anti-inflammatory drugs can help calm the pain but digestive problems can be a long term complication. Physiotherapy and steroid infiltrations are classic approaches to therapy. Open or arhroscopic releases for lateral or medial epicondylitis are a last line of treatment. Biceps or triceps repair is required with high grade rupture.
Elbow locking
Adequate imaging must used to determine the source of mechanical blockage of the elbow. Free bone fragments or loose bodies can cause an intermittent pseudo blockage. In the case of elbow wear like elbow osteoarthritis, mobility of the elbow is reduced to limit inflammation.
What can be done?
Once the reason for the blockage is identified, we can clean the joint using elbow arthroscopy (synvectomy) and remove the causes of blockage like bone fragments or bone spurs (loose bodies or osteophytes). We can even go as far as articular resurfacing (elbow debridement) or joint replacement (total elbow arthroplasty) if need be, to maintain functional mobility of the elbow.
Elbow instability
Major elbow trauma can cause pain due to insufficiency or by ruptures of the collateral ligaments of the elbow. Severe trauma can lead to dislocation of the elbow.
What can be done?
Once the lesions are identified, it is sometimes required to proceed with surgical ligament repair or reconstruction including addition of tissu (grafts).
Elbow swelling
There is a small bag of tissue on the tip of the elbow which facilitates skin movement over the joint, called a bursa. Inflammation of the bursa (olecranon bursitis) causes significant accumulation of liquid or blood which is susceptible to infection.
What can be done?
It can often take several weeks for swelling to subside. Sometimes we must proceed with the removal of the bursa or bursectomy.
Reference: "Guide familial des symptômes", under the supervision Dr. André-H. Dandavino, in collaboration with "l'association des médecins de langue française du Canada", 2nd edition, Rogers 2003. (chapter: 107, 142, 182, 228, 233, 250, 311)