Synovectomy of the elbow in young hemophilic patients.
Synovectomy of twenty-three elbows was done in eighteen patients, eight to twenty-five years old, who had severe hemophilia and were followed for eighteen to seventy months. Episodes of bleeding recurred in four elbows, and moderate pain persisted in three. A significant improvement in mobility was observed for pronation-supination in nine elbows and for flexion-extension in fourteen. No radiographic evidence of arthritis was seen. Synovectomy of the elbow, performed through a single lateral incision, appears to be a valuable surgical procedure in hemophiliacs in whom non-operative treatment has failed, and resection of the radial head should be done in adults when there is moderate or severe damage to the cartilage of the radial head.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004551:Elbow Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006395:Hemarthrosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography; D000074402:Synovectomy