Ligament reconstructions for tennis/golfer’s elbow

Tennis elbow is a enthesopathy of the wrist extensor muscles at the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. Enthesopathy is a disease of the tendon attachment to the bone.

The primary cause of this condition is prolonged overload of the wrist extensor muscles and accumulating micro-injuries at their bone attachment near the elbow. This condition can lead to degenerative changes in the enthesis and chronic pain symptoms.

Those most at risk are people working at computers and those performing physical wrist work.

The main symptom of tennis elbow is:

• pain on the side of the elbow, occurring in specific situations:
  – when gripping, pressing, and performing rotational movements
  – when extending the wrist
• tenderness of tissues upon pressure at the elbow
• difficulties performing simple daily activities: shaking hands or holding a glass of drink

Treatment for tennis elbow involves:

• reducing wrist load,
• use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that act symptomatically to reduce pain,
• application of appropriate physiotherapy treatments with pain-relieving effects,
• implementation of professionally guided stretching and strengthening exercises for forearm muscles,
• use of shockwave therapy in suitable cases,
• application of a modern treatment method involving injection of platelet-rich plasma into the elbow, enabling biological regeneration of damaged tendons,

Failure of conservative treatment indicates the need for surgical intervention.

Surgical treatment of tennis elbow

Surgical treatment involves detaching the tendon attachment and removing damaged tissue along with the periosteum, allowing the tendon end to reattach to the bone and simultaneously releasing muscle tension. After surgery, the hand is immobilized for 3 weeks. Full work capacity is typically regained after about 3 months.

Ask our specialists in treating tennis and golfer’s elbow about treatment methods for your condition. We invite you to orthopedic consultations at the WILMED Clinic in Warsaw.