Mid- to long-term results after bipolar radial head arthroplasty.

2009

Background Radial head arthroplasty is considered the treatment of choice for unreconstructable radial head fractures in the acute fracture situation. Although short-term results in the current literature are promising, replacement of the radial head remains controversial as long-term results are still missing. We report our 8.8-year results after treatment with a bipolar radial head prosthesis by Judet. Materials and methods In our department, 19 patients were treated with bipolar radial head arthroplasty between 1997 and 2001. Seventeen of these patients—14 men and 3 women—were examined retrospectively after 106 months (range, 78-139). Of these, 9 patients were treated primarily, 7 patien…