The Influence of Short-term Complications on the Outcomes of Total Elbow Arthroplasty

Abstract Background The reported complication rate after Total Elbow Arthroplasty is high, and objective outcomes are not always predictive of satisfaction. This study aims to investigate the effect of a short-term complication on patient satisfaction and patient-reported outcome measures (PROM). Methods We retrospectively included 126 patients that received a primary total elbow arthroplasty at our hospital between 2008 and 2018 and compared outcomes between patients with a complication and patients without complications occurring within one year using t-tests or Mann Whitney U tests. P-values were corrected using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure. Results In total, 26 patients developed a complication (21%). At one-year follow-up there were no significant differences between the groups. At three-year follow-up, patients with a complication had a lower median satisfaction score (8 versus 10; p=0.0288) and Oxford Elbow Score (27 versus 43; p=0.0048). At the five-year follow-up, there were no differences between the groups. However, the number of patients that completed the five-year follow-up is low (42 patients). Discussion Complications occurred in 21% of patients undergoing total elbow arthroplasty and lead to a decrease in satisfaction and Oxford Elbow Score after three years.