Back to 2025 Abstracts
Radial Head Arthroplasty Survivorship and Outcomes
Alyssa Rothman, MD
1; Alexandra Damron, BS
1; Jessica Welch, BS
2; Christopher S Klifto, MD
3; Tyler S. Pidgeon, MD
4; David S Ruch, MD
4; Marc J. Richard, MD
41Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC; 2Duke University, Durham, NC; 3Duke Univeristy Hospital, Durham, NC; 4Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
Introduction: Radial head arthroplasty is an effective treatment option for isolated radial head fractures as well as complex elbow fracture dislocation patterns. The purpose of this study was to evaluate implant survivorship and clinical outcomes for patients who underwent radial head arthroplasty.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed at a single institution to identify adult patients who underwent radial head arthroplasty between 2013 and 2023. Patient demographic information was collected as well as injury characteristics, elbow range of motion at final follow up, complications, and need for radial head arthroplasty revision or any additional elbow surgeries.
Results: A total of 157 patients with 161 elbow injuries treated with radial head arthroplasty were included in the study. The average age of the patients was 49.7 and the average length of follow up was 9.2 months. Radial head arthroplasty was most commonly performed for terrible triad injuries (47.%) followed by isolated radial head fractures (29.8%), Monteggia variants (8.1%), and trans-olecranon fracture dislocations (6.2%). Revision radial head arthroplasty was performed for 5 patients (3.1%) with 4 out of 5 being performed for implant loosening. Four of the patients undergoing radial head arthroplasty revision had initially sustained terrible triad injuries. Additional elbow surgeries were performed for recurrent instability in 5 patients (3.1%), removal of hardware in 8 patients (5.0%), ulnar nerve decompression in 5 patients (3.1%), and other reasons in 12 patients (12.5%). The overall rate of undergoing additional elbow surgery after radial head arthroplasty in this series was 21.7%. Radiocapitellar arthrosis was seen in 15.6% of patients and PRUJ arthrosis was seen in 9.2% of patients.
Conclusions: Implant survivorship in patients undergoing radial head arthroplasty was high (97%). However, radial head arthroplasty is performed for a variety of injury patterns and patients should be counseled that there is approximately a 1 in 5 chance they could require additional elbow surgery in the future for a variety of conditions.
Back to 2025 Abstracts
