Elbow replacement surgery
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People are taking better care of themselves these days, which is evident with the steady rise in life expectancy. And as people live longer, naturally, they'd like to maintain their current lifestyle longer. Sometimes that's not always as easy as it sounds, but that's where Tarik Kardestuncer, MD, comes in.
Dr. Kardstuncer performed the first total elbow replacement surgery in Backus Hospital history last week, helping a patient with severe arthritis to regain range of motion in her left elbow.
"In order to retain an active lifestyle," Dr. Kardestuncer said, "it's something we're going to do more and more of at Backus as the demographic changes. As an aging population remains active, now you will have 80-year-olds who want to walk, fish or hike."
Total elbow replacement is very similar to hip and knee replacement and is becoming more common, Dr. Kardestuncer said. Essentially, the failing elbow joint is removed and is replaced by metal replacement joint, which is secured by cement.
Sometimes it is more advantageous to replace the whole elbow rather than try to fix all the broken parts, especially when frail bones are involved.
"If the bone is very thin," Dr. Kardestuncer said, "trying to hold it together is like putting screws in a soft apple. It's going to fall out."
Usually the procedure is reserved for patients older than 60 that have suffered from arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or have had some trauma to the elbow area. The procedure can and has been done on younger patients, but the joint's viability is only considered to be 15 to 20 years, so doctors try to wait as long as possible so that a duplicate procedure is not necessary down the road.
Even though Dr. Kardestuncer has been a member of the Backus staff for about three years, he hadn't come across the right patient for the procedure until recently.
"The ideal candidate is a person that has no other options and does not have an occupation that requires an excessive amount of stress on the elbow like lifting or pulling," Dr. Kardestuncer said.
The procedure takes one to two hours in the operating room, and an overnight stay for recovery, but because the joint is not weight bearing like a hip or knee, the recovery time is much faster. A few therapy visits to strength and range of motion and no brace or sling should be necessary.
"With plates and screws you have to protect the area for eight, 10, 12 weeks as it heals," Dr. Kardestuncer said. "With cement you can use the elbow within the first couple of days. That's the beauty of this."
In the Eastern Connecticut area, patients previously would have to travel to Hartford, Yale-New Haven or even Providence to have the procedure done. Now, Dr. Kardestuncer said, he expects more inquiries locally.
"When word gets out, more people will come to me with elbow pain," he said. "They may not all be candidates, but when people realize that there might be a cure for them, then maybe we'll be able to help."