Performed by – Ankit Desai, Gareth Hill, Philip Rosell

This is a smaller operation which is performed to replace either an arthritic joint or after an injury if the radial head is too badly damaged to be repaired. The operation takes around 45 minutes and consists of a short incision on the outside of the elbow and opening up the lateral side of the joint. The radial head is the part of the joint which is involved in forearm rotation, and this can be replaced quite easily by cutting the neck off the bone and then inserting a new metal or ceramic head onto a short stem placed down the middle of the bone. Again this can be fitted using cement or press fit/ direct bonding techniques.

After surgery you will be encouraged to mobilise early and restore the movement of the elbow.

Post-operative stiffness is a recognised complication of elbow replacement and it is not unusual to have an end result with a range of movement of 30 to 130 degrees. That is the elbow will not go fully straight and you may lose 30 degrees of that straightening. However, the range achieved after replacement surgery is usually sufficient for all activities of daily life.