UKC

My wife's climbing has been badly hampered for several years by what a specialist consultant Dr Alasdair Bott believes is athritis in one of her elbows- both cartilage wear and osteophytes. The elbow clicks, doesn't straighten and becomes inflamed after trying anything hard. This then causes other part of her arm and shoulder to lock-up.

After giving her a steroid injection to provide temporary relief, he has suggests that she could consider arthroscopy to remove some of the bone growths and tidy up the damaged cartilage.

Does anyone have any experience of elbow arthroscopy? Was it successful? How good were the recovery and benefits?  We're based in Bristol, where Dr Bott is an NHS surgeon. She'd prefer to get the op on the NHS, but it would be good to know who the best elbow surgeons are whether NHS or private. Thanks John

Hey. 

The British Elbow and Shoulder Society may have some info on this on their website. 

There's also the British Orthopaedic Society. 

As a physio I've seen plenty of people do well post elbow arthroscopy but really each individual case is different so you really need to get a good honest expert clinical opinion from a surgeon. 

Good luck with it

My partner has had this done twice. The second surgeon (private) said "I can definitely improve on the work of the first (NHS)" He called the op "joint debridement" and the recovery was very quick both times. 

However the result isn't great. My partner has pain most mornings when he wakes until it is warmed up. He can climb but it's painful and he takes a lot of Ibroprofen to get through it. 

He's infinitely better in warmer climates - says it feels like someone has put WD40 inside. 

I keep suggesting full elbow replacement surgery but it's not that common, variable results and he's learned to live with it. 

I wish your wife luck with the elbow arthroscopy but I would kee your expectations low rather than regard it as a perfect solution. Good luck! 

Thanks for the advice. We're waiting for a CT scan to provide more detail on the damage and are getting advice from as many sources as possible before deciding whether to proceed with the operation. There are clearly some risks involved (particularly causing accidental nerve damage), but we've also heard of climbers who've had excellent results.

Hi John,

I had elbow surgery on 20 Feb due to significant osteoarthritis of the elbow. Also had bone fragments removed. I was back climbing by April. 
My recovery has involved lots of physio therapy. 
if you like to know more about it please get touch. Happy to have chat on the phone