• Bahtiyar Demiralp, Mahmut Komurcu, Cagatay Ozturk, Ersin Tasatan, Ali Sehirlioglu, and Mustafa Basbozkurt.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
• Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2008 Jan 1; 128 (1): 172417-24.

IntroductionIn this retrospective study, we aimed to present 8-12-year clinical and radiographic evaluation of total elbow arthroplasty in young patients who had open fractures due to gunshot injuries.Materials And MethodsThe study included a consecutive series of seven patients who had insertion of total elbow prosthesis (semi-constrained type) for the treatment of comminuted intra-articular elbow fractures resulting from gunshot injuries between 1994 and 1998. All patients were male and the mean age at the time of operation was 23 years.ResultsThe average time from the original fracture to the joint replacement was 26 months (range 14-39). The mean follow-up period was 117 +/- 15 months. At the time of the latest follow-up, 5 of 7 elbows had a poor result. Radiological evaluations revealed that three patients had ulnar and two patients had humeral component loosening at the last follow-up examination. No intra-operative complications were observed. In the long-term evaluation, two patients had prosthesis loosening that resulted from deep infection and three patients had aseptic loosening that necessitated re-operation. The prosthesis removal was performed.ConclusionAs a result, the patients in whom we implemented total elbow prosthesis in comminuted elbow fractures due to gunshot wounds seemed to get back into active life in the early period without any problem and it seemed that their pain disappeared and their functional capacity increased. In the long period, however, these values showed a distinct decrease with the same patients.

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