Arthroscopic Surgery of the Elbow; Indications, Contra-Indications, Complications and Operative Technique

Arthroscopy of the elbow was first described by Burman in 1931. In this first article about arthroscopy of the elbow in the journal of bone and joint surgery, he concluded that the elbow joint was not suitable for arthroscopy; the joint was too small and the neurovascular structures in the anterior compartment of the elbow were close. In 1932 he revised his original article with some technical modifications and slowly arthroscopy of the elbow was performed more often. In the late 1980’s arthroscopic surgery of the elbow became more and more popular. In this article an overview is given of the indications for elbow arthroscopy, the surgical technique is described in detail and the possible complications are highlighted.