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Surgery for painful elbow joint arthritis, elbow instability, and tendonitis: Elbow replacement, ligament reconstruction and repair, and tendon surgery
Edited By: Thomas Trumble, M.D.
Last updated Friday, September 08, 2006
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Recovering from surgeryPain and pain management In order to minimize the pain and swelling from surgery, a small surgical drain
is usually placed in the wound and removed the day after surgery. Frequently,
the patient’s family can be instructed on how to remove this device without
causing the patient pain.
Most surgery for elbow instability and
tendonitis can be performed as an out-patient surgery with a regimen of
medication, including long acting medications such as (morphone SR long acting
morphine – get name from Josette) and short acting medicines such as Oxycodone.
Additional local anesthetics are used in surgery. For patients with total elbow
replacement, a hospital stay is recommended to administer IV intravenous
antibiotics for 48 hours after surgery, and to provide intravenous medication
such as morphine or Demerol.
Use of medications The use of pain medications can be varied. Typically, hospitalized patients
with total elbow replacement require two days of intravenous pain medication
and then are able to switch to oral pain medication. For patients with ligament
reconstruction or decompression and repair of tendonitis, oral pain medications
with a combination of short and long acting medications can be very effective.
Frequently, we will combine these with an anti-inflammatory medication to
provide an additional source of pain relief.Effectiveness of medications Pain medications can be very powerful and effective. Their proper use lies in
the balancing of their pain relieving effect and other less desirable effects.
Good pain relief is part of normal post-operative care.Important side effects Pain medications can cause drowsiness, slowness of breathing, and difficulties
in emptying the bladder and bowel, nausea, vomiting and allergic reactions.
Patients who have taken substantial narcotic medications in the recent past may
find that usual doses of pain medication are less effective. For some patients,
balancing the benefit and the side effects of pain medication is challenging.
Patients should notify their surgeon if they have had previous difficulties with
pain medication or pain control.Hospital stay As noted above, elbow ligament reconstruction for instability and tendon
decompression for tendonitis can be performed as outpatient surgery. Patients
frequently spend two days in the hospital after elbow replacement surgery.
Intravenous antibiotics are administered until the drains can be removed to
minimize the chance of infection. Intravenous analgesics are also administered
as needed.
Hospital discharge At the time of discharge, the patient should be relatively comfortable on oral
medications and have their appointment for therapy scheduled. For total elbow
replacement, therapy with general range of motion exercise should be started a
week after surgery and coordinated with a therapist who works regularly with the
surgeon with these type of patients.
Surgery for Elbow Instability, Arthritis, and Tendonitis at the University of Washington, Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Seattle, Washington If you are interested in making an appointment to discuss this procedure in Seattle, you can request an appointment using our online referrals website. To request a referral online, please click here. You can also call 206-598-BONE (2663) to make an appointment. Our clinical center is located in Seattle Washington, USA
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