Joint arthrosis can affect any joint in the body. However, elbow joint arthrosis occurs much less frequently than knee joint arthrosis, for example.
Cubital osteoarthritis mainly affects middle-aged people who have to put a lot of strain on their arms due to their job. This includes, for example, construction workers or professional athletes such as handball players, tennis players or golfers.
Such one-sided strain on the elbow joint promotes wear and tear. This is where the disease got its colloquial name: "tennis elbow".
However, accidents can also be the cause of cubital arthrosis. Arm fractures and dislocations in the joint promote minute cartilage damage. As a result, the abrasion on the joint surfaces changes, which can gradually destroy the cartilage.
Inflammations and infections as well as rheumatic diseases can also damage the joints.
The wear and tear of the joint cartilage surfaces usually progresses gradually. Initially, the joint changes are often not noticeable.
In the early stages of elbow joint arthrosis, there may be
- Pain in the elbow joint at night and
- pain under stress
may occur.
As the disease progresses, the pain also occurs at rest. This is usually accompanied by swelling and muscle tension and even gradual stiffening of the elbow joint.
Many patients also complain of joint noises - a cracking in the elbow, which is known as crepitation.
With cubital osteoarthritis, the cartilage of the elbow joint is gradually destroyed (here using the knee as an example): Healthy cartilage on the left, heavily worn cartilage on the right © crevis | AdobeStock
The doctor usually receives the first signs of an arthritic disease during the patient interview(medical history).
The suspected diagnosis of "cubital osteoarthritis" can be confirmed by a physical examination, including an exercise test. As a rule, an X-ray of the elbow joint is then taken.
Based on the X-ray, it is possible to determine the extent of the joint damage at the elbow. This also allows narrowing of the joint space or individual joint cones and cysts in the area of the joint to be identified.
Elbow osteoarthritis cannot be cured today, even with modern medical procedures. Once cartilage tissue has been lost, it cannot currently be regenerated or replaced by itself. Therefore, the treatment of cubital osteoarthritis is primarily about
- slowing down the progression of the disease,
- alleviate the pain associated with it and
- ultimately improve the quality of life of the affected patients.
The earlier elbow osteoarthritis is detected, the easier it is to achieve this with the help of conservative procedures. These primarily include
- physiotherapy and
- anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving medication.
If conservative treatment methods are not successful enough, the only option is usually surgery. The operation can be arthroscopic or open. During the procedure, the surgeon also removes irregularities or detached cartilage from the joint surfaces.
Arthroscopy is therefore one of the joint-cleaning procedures used to preserve the joint. Coupled with physiotherapeutic approaches, joint replacement can often be significantly delayed.
However, if cleaning and therefore joint preservation is not possible, there is the option of a complete elbow joint replacement. This involves replacing the elbow joint with an artificial joint - a joint prosthesis.
Cubital arthrosis is a joint disease that requires urgent treatment. The wear and tear cannot be reversed or cured by adjusting the diet and protecting the joint. Spontaneous healing does not occur either.
If the joint degeneration progresses further, it leads to
- pronounced pain symptoms and restricted
- restricted movement
in the elbow joint. Conventional therapy is usually no longer sufficient at this stage.
It is therefore very important for the prognosis of the disease to see a doctor at an early stage. Specialist physiotherapy can have a positive influence on the course of the disease and slow down its progression. However, it is not possible to stop the progression completely. However, this is a great benefit in terms of pain control and therefore quality of life.
At an advanced stage, surgery is usually the only remaining treatment option. But even these procedures usually lead to a positive course of the disease with less pain and a better quality of life.
Without timely diagnosis and treatment by a specialist in arthritic joint disease, the prognosis is worse. In these cases, the cartilage damage leads to joint stiffness, severe pain and reduced mobility.
So far, the only known measure to reduce the risk of osteoarthritis in the elbow is to play sports that are easy on the joints. Tennis, golf and handball are not among them and should be practiced very rarely and then only carefully. Swimming, tai chi and Nordic walking, on the other hand, are sports that are easy on the joints.
Your family doctor will prescribe conservative measures such as physiotherapy and physiotherapy.
However, surgical treatment of cubital arthrosis should be carried out at specialized centers for orthopaedics, trauma and/or joint surgery. The specialists for elbow joint surgery there carry out such operations in large numbers and as a matter of routine. This significantly improves the prognosis after the operation.
