Elbow Overview
Anatomy of the Elbow
The elbow allows the upper arm and forearm bones to connect in a manner enabling flexible arm positioning. Its unique design facilitates bending, straightening, twisting inward and outward – critical motions for placing our hands in space. However, overuse, trauma or arthritis can inflame the elbow joint or damage its surrounding ligaments and cartilage. Significant elbow injury or progressive conditions like untreated tennis elbow may necessitate surgery when conservative treatment fails. Rather than open surgery with a large incision, most elbow procedures today utilize arthroscopy. This employs a pencil-sized camera scope inserted through a tiny portal. The arthroscope projects video inside the joint for closeup visualization allowing surgeons to smoothly repair tissue through other miniature cuts. Patients benefit from less pain, scarring and downtime versus traditional open techniques.
Lateral epicondylitis, often called tennis elbow, arises from overworking the forearm muscles. It specifically involves sore, inflamed tendons attaching to a bony outcropping on the elbow’s exterior lateral epicondyle. This non-articular prominence can be felt as a raised bump on the upper arm bone near the elbow. Repeated forearm motions like gripping lead to microtears and irritation of the tendons connecting wrist/finger extensor muscles to this epicondyle attachment point. Movements in racket sports elicit the condition’s nickname “tennis elbow”, although any activity overtaxing the same forearm muscle tendons can cause lateral epicondylitis too. Resting the affected arm is crucial for healing until elbow inflammation resolves.
Elbow Instability
The biceps comprise a two-headed upper arm skeletal muscle enabling elbow bending and arm rotation. Tendinous cords anchor each end of the biceps muscle to shoulder and elbow bones. These tendons provide a critical bone attachment site for contracting biceps to mobilize the arm. However, excessive load placed on the long head biceps tendon where it connects the muscle to shoulder socket bones can overstretch and tear the tissue. A partial biceps tendon tear implies the tendon is still partially intact if frayed. In a complete full-thickness tear, the tendon ruptures entirely through its width, becoming two separate pieces, thus losing all integrity and function. Prompt surgical biceps tenodesis normally repairs such full tendon tears successfully.