New Arthroscopic Tennis Elbow Cure

Posted on July 28, 2007

While "tennis elbow" can be successfully managed non-surgically in approximately 90% of cases, not so for the other 10%. Now a new study shows that arthroscopic treatment is successful at long-term follow-up, according to new research released at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.

"This is the first longitudinal study of arthroscopic treatment of tennis elbow," said lead investigator Champ L. Baker, III, M.D., an orthopaedic resident at the University of Pittsburgh. "I am happy to say that arthroscopic release is a good treatment option for lingering tennis elbow."

Investigators studied the long-term (130 month) pain and functional scores of 30 patients who underwent arthroscopic release for tennis elbow. There were no repeat surgeries or injections, and satisfaction rates were also high, with 93% of the patients stating that they would have the surgery again if needed. Athletes are not the only population vulnerable to tennis elbow -- people in their 40s and 50s who do repetitive activities are often afflicted.

"If you’ve had tennis elbow for more than a year and can’t get better, then it would be a good idea to investigate having this procedure done by an orthopaedic surgeon skilled in arthroscopy. Patients should get better with very few complications, if any," Dr. Baker said. "Arthroscopic surgery speeds up the rehabilitation. In all published studies, return to work and play is much quicker with arthroscopic technique versus open surgery, while the complication rate is equal or less."