Long-term outcome of operatively treated fracture-dislocations of the olecranon.

Objective: To report the long-term results of operative treatment of anterior and posterior olecranon fracture-dislocations and compare them with the results recorded fewer than 2 years after surgery.

Methods: Retrospective case series with long-term evaluation. Methods: Level I trauma center. Methods: Ten patients with anterior olecranon fracture-dislocation and ten patients with posterior olecranon fracture-dislocation were evaluated after an average of 18 years (range, 11 to 28 years) after injury. Fifteen patients had an early follow-up available at an average 14 months (range, 6 to 24 months) after surgery. The average age at injury was 30 years (range, 14 to 53 years). Methods: Treatment included plate and screw fixation (11 patients), tension band wiring (8 patients), and radiocapitellar transfixation (1 patient). Six patients had additional elbow surgery before the final evaluation. Methods: Flexion arc, arthrosis, Mayo Elbow Performance Index (MEPI), Disability of Arm Shoulder and Hand questionnaire (DASH).

Results: The mean arc of elbow flexion was 105 degrees (range, 15 to 140 degrees) at 1 year and 122 degrees (range 10 to 145 degrees; P = 0.01) at final evaluation. Radiographic arthrosis was observed in 14 patients (70%): severe in 3, moderate in 2, and mild in 9 patients. Five patients (25%) had ulnar nerve dysfunction at the final evaluation. The MEPI was excellent in 13 patients, good in 4, fair in 2, and poor in 1. The mean DASH score was 9 points (range, 0 to 53 points).

Conclusions: The initial results of operative treatment of fracture-dislocations of the olecranon are durable over time.