Doctors at Parul Sevashram Hospital (PSH) create a new elbow joint to restore functionality of elbow movements

Total Elbow Arthroplasty (TEA) is an increasingly used motion-preserving modality for the treatment of many debilitating elbow pathologies. Primary indications include rheumatoid arthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, and intra-articular distal humeral fractures in the elderly with poor bony quality.

A 25-year-old man presented to PSH with bilateral elbow deformities and an inability to bend or straighten both elbows for 5 years. He was diagnosed to have a condition called bony ankylosis of the elbow joints due
to the previous injury. He was unable to feed himself or do any of his activities of daily living and had to depend on either his brother or friends in the village for each and everything.

He visited many hospitals across Gujarat and was told that there was no possible treatment for his elbow condition. He wanted some movement in his right elbow so that he can eat and drink by himself and perform daily activities.

This was addressed and a novel operating procedure was planned and executed by Dr. Karthik Vishwanathan, Professor, and Head of  Orthopaedics at Parul Sevashram Hospital along with his team. The patient underwent a functional elbow resection arthroplasty procedure wherein the bone inside the elbow joint was carefully removed, the shape of the elbow joints was recreated in order to provide stability and movement to the joint. Since the ligaments that provide stability around the elbow joint were found to be damaged due to the disease process, soft tissue from the thigh (Iliotibial band) was removed and substituted as collateral ligaments of the elbow.

Early movement of the elbow was started and the patient was able to eat, drink, wash his face and comb his hair using his right upper limb independently.

This patient, who was struggling for the past 5 years with his day-to-day activities, got new ease of life through successful management by the hospital. “We always work with a vision to bring back smiles on the faces of those who are troubled the most by severe and difficult disease conditions,” said Dr. Geetika
Patel, Medical Director at Parul Sevashram Hospital. Also, was done totally free of cost under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme.