The history of the development of elbow arthroplasty

Total elbow arthroplasty is a good alternative surgical solution for many patients with severe traumatic and inflammatory joint injuries. In case of bones multiple fractures of the elbow joint, arthroplasty can restore the stability of the joint and provide early mobilization of the limb, which is not always possible when performing osteosynthesis. This literature review provides information on the design features of foreign and domestic endoprostheses of the elbow joint, long-term results of operations. The turbulent history of the development of elbow arthroplasty goes back over 60 years. At the same time, due to insufficient understanding of the biomechanics of the joint, the first attempts at its arthroplasty failed. Only in the early 70s, in connection with the improvement of the endoprostheses design and the operation technique, publications on the successful results of total elbow arthroplasty appear in the literature. In the 80s of the XX century implants with a semi-connected design and cemented placement technique have been developed, which still demonstrate better long-term results in comparison with implants with anatomical design. The analysis of publications on the topic of total elbow arthroplasty showed that significant achievements were observed only in the early 1990s, which is largely due to a better understanding of the biomechanics of the elbow joint, as a result, to the improvement of implant design and surgical technique.