Complications in Elbow Arthroscopy: Management and Prevention.

With advances in the understanding of elbow anatomy, pathologies of the elbow, arthroscopic instrumentation, and surgical techniques over recent decades, elbow arthroscopy has become a valuable treatment modality for a variety of conditions. Elbow arthroscopy has gained utility for treating problems such as septic arthritis, osteoarthritis, synovitis, osteophyte and loose body excision, contracture release, osteochondral defects, select fractures, instability, and lateral epicondylitis. Accordingly, precise knowledge of the neurovascular anatomy, safe arthroscopic portal placement, indications, and potential complications are required to maximize patient outcomes and assist in educating patients.

Editorial Commentary: Silly Biceps, Tenodesis Is for Kids!

There is now a strong consensus that the best surgical treatment of a SLAP lesion is often something different from a primary direct repair, especially in older patients in whom postoperative stiffness and persistent pain have led most of us to perform a biceps tenodesis instead. However, treatment of younger patients and especially the overhead athlete group is more problematic and thus controversial. This study demonstrates that biceps tenodesis in these patients can be more successful and have a higher return to sport than SLAP repair alone.

Editorial Commentary: Put Down Your Saw and Pick Up Your Scope! Or, Why Burn Down the Bridge When the Road Ahead Is Full of Potholes? Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement Versus Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair.

Are we doing too many reverse total shoulder replacements and not fixing enough repairable rotator cuff tears? A convincing argument can be made for attempting to repair most, not all, very large rotator cuff tears in patients who do not have a significant arthritic change in the shoulder. My experience over more than 25 years of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) is that the only good way to know if it is repairable is to try. But some patients really do not pass my "eyeball test" as to whether they can rehabilitate and heal enough to make an ARCR reasonable.

Subpectoral Biceps Tenodesis Using an Expanding PEEK Device.

In this Technical Note, we describe a method of mini-open long head biceps subpectoral tenodesis. The implant used is a threadless expanding PEEK (polyether ether ketone) interference device that fixes the biceps tendon in a drill hole in the humerus under the inferior border of the pectoralis major tendon. The diameter of the drill hole varies between 6 and 8 mm depending on the width of the tendon.

Shoulder stiffness.

Shoulder stiffness is commonly encountered in clinical practice but varies greatly in severity and etiology. Loss of shoulder range of motion can be a patient's primary complaint or may be a secondary finding. Possible causes of stiffness include guarding due to pain or secondary gain issues (nonanatomic), true mechanical blockage due to acute or chronic trauma, adhesive capsulitis, rotator cuff disease, or surgery on or near the shoulder.

Stiffness and rotator cuff tears: incidence, arthroscopic findings, and treatment results.

Purpose: Although stiffness of the shoulder has been evaluated after rotator cuff repair, it has not been studied in patients with cuff tears that occurred before repair. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether preoperative stiffness persists after cuff repair. We also evaluated the incidence and possible causes of stiffness in patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

Arthroscopic biceps tenodesis.

Arthroscopic biceps tenodesis is indicated for the treatment of severe biceps tendonopathy, partial- or full-thickness tendon tears, or biceps instability typically associated with rotator cuff tear, although there has been considerable debate on tenotomy versus tenodesis. We advocate tenodesis, for the following reasons: to re-establish the resting muscle length so as to avoid scaring and spasm, to allow biceps use for complex elbow motion, and to avoid cosmetic defects in cases in which deformity can sometimes equal disability. This technical note provides illustrations and detailed descriptions of our arthroscopic tenodesis technique using a Arthrex (Naples, FL) biotenodesis system.

Arthroscopic repair of large rotator cuff tears using the interval slide technique.

Purpose: In some cases of larger and chronic rotator cuff tears, the supraspinatus tendon may be held in a retracted position by the contracted tissue of the rotator interval and the attached coracohumeral ligament. This study was performed to evaluate the utility and clinical effectiveness of an arthroscopic release of the rotator interval from the supraspinatus tendon combined with repair of the rotator cuff.

Type Of Study: Prospective clinical follow-up study.