Total Elbow Replacement - I have had this done. Anyone else?

I had both of mine done in the early 1990’s and am having to get the left one fixed this week. My ulna broke in half. I live in Florida but come to Chicago to see Dr Mass at the University of Chicago. He’s one of the best in the country. He did both my elbow, my shoulder replacement and did my Swanson implants ( my knuckles) on both hands and I’ve never had a problem with any of them. I hope this helps u. 

i am 46 very active with 2 bad elbows. I have talked to a doctor about an artificial Elbow (he makes 50 a year). The probleme is that you Can only carry 5kg, as you know. But The worst part is that It only last max. 10 years if you are Lucky, (bescause you are aktive) if you sit still Perhaps 20 years, but you do not. So you have to change it again. And you Can only have 2 operations Perhaps 3 in you life, and after that your Elbow is kaput.

i Can not tell you What to do but if a stiff Elbow Works for you and you have no pain, Then Think about what you get and what you have.

i have a question for you? Do you know Then Angel Of The Elbow, degres, and do you realy have no problems with it. I Think about a stiff Elbow so i Can get rid Of The pain. But i do not know what i Can do with it. Ex. Eat with a fork, Bush my teath etc

I eat with that hand normaly, holding knife in that hand and fork in other arm that I can move. I do not brush my teath with that hand since it is fixed and i can not bend it enough. I wash my teath with other arm.

I can touch my nose with that arm only with end of my fingers.

I do not know the exact angle of my arm but as I can see I think it is 120 degrees. I can take pictures and send you pictures or video of my armand elbow if you send me email.

I do not have any pain and have never had it excpet maybe 3-6 months after first try of surgery and never since had any pain.

If you need any info more write me and I will gladly answer.

My replacement elbow was done almost  2 years ago now. I had no choice. However I have very fee problems or pain with it. I can make all the movements with my arm and hand. But there is the weight restriction. I go swimming and I drive and I travel alot.  It is possible to hold slightly heavier items by holding the item against me or under my arm if I am carrying something in my other hand. I would say it is a good thing if you have significant pain and problems with your elbow currently - otherwise I would wait until it becomes necessary.   

I am a 25 year old. I have been through an accident yesterday. And the doctor is saying by looking to my Xray that I have a minor crack in the bone near the joints below my elbow. And he is asking for an implant by which he is gonna implant some artificial metal on my joints. I just wanted to know if it is the same as elbow replacement or different. And would that be good or bad. At present I can move my hands from shoulder and wrist but from elbow I can move within a range of 50-60 degree.

Please give me some helpful suggestions.

God bless you all..

Hi,

I am scheduled for my right elbow replacement after an accident in '97 and last year I refractured the humerous. I have read many of the posts and people talk about the weight limitations but not specific enough for me to help with my decision. I have both elbows with limited range and the right is more severe as I also cannot pronate. I currently can still use a falling saw, swing an axe etc. but they do cause lots of pain. Another question is do the muscles recover after such a long time being either less functioning or attached in the wrong area so it provided stability.

That is correct.  

Really!  U can only lift 5#?  It's disappointing to hear that!  I am contemplating the surgery after a nasty fx left me with a decrease in ROMnand tired of eating , brushing teeth and hair with non-dominate arm.  But I fear that with that much of a weight restriction I will most probably not be able to return to my job as a patient care RN.

I was at my surgeon's office yesterday and I asked him again about the amount I shall be able to lift and again he said no more than 5lbs or 2.56kgs. I am a Canadian and I am wondering if there is a difference in the replacement? The Canadian and British health care are similar, except I don't think you have to wait as long as we do. I need to have the right elbow replaced due to osteoarthritis, I had a total left knee replacement in March of this year. I recovered very quickly, but the surgeon said I had to wait for 6 months before having my elbow replacement. I think I will do well, I had a total hip replacement 3 years ago and I got over that quickly also.

I had the R elbow replaced 4 weeks ago after 50+ years of degenerative arthritis from injury at 10 years old. I have a functional right arm again, and can now feed self, brush teeth & hair with r arm again; not much pain either. I am glad I did the surgery! I am much more functional now than before, but still have the weight lift limits as before. It remains to be seen how things will be long term, but it was worth the risk, time in recovery for me. I also got quite good at doing things one-armed before, but this is better!

I am a nurse, but have had to take on alternative roles like nurse educator, and doing telephone triage because I can no longer lift. In teaching the students I either have other instructors or capable students demonstrate body mechanics, etc for the other students while I narrate the do's and don'ts. It has worked, I even took students on clinicals on a walker last year because I could not be on my feet 10 hours due to arthritis of the hip, and needed to sit when there was not often chairs. I was embarrassed at first till the ADN told me she had MS and used a walker sometimes also. It is better to contribute in some way than stay home and feel useless for me, despite the problems I incur at times!