Outcome More Than 20 Years After Surgery for Ulnar Nerve Compression at the Elbow.

BACKGROUND

Ulnar nerve entrapment at the elbow is a common neurological entrapment neuropathy. Previous research has shown that surgical treatment can be highly successful. Only a few studies have reported on long-term outcome after surgery. In this study, we report on the long-term follow-up after surgery for ulnar nerve compression at the elbow.

METHODS

We performed a long-term follow-up study, more than 20 years after surgery, for ulnar neuropathy at the elbow. We also compared 2 methods: simple decompression and anterior subcutaneous transposition. A short outcome questionnaire, adapted from Novak et al., was sent to retrieve data on the long-term follow-up outcomes.

RESULTS

39 patients were included in this study. At long-term follow-up, there was no significant difference in outcome compared to outcome at 1-year follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

We may conclude that the surgical treatment is also successful in the long term.