An optimal position for elbow arthrodesis to accommodate modern daily living activities.

Abstract

Aim: To assess the optimal fusion angle of the elbow to accommodate the activities of daily living.

Methods: The study enrolled 30 healthy adult volunteers (mean age 24 years), who performed 29 activities with an elbow brace fixed at various flexion angles (30°, 50°, 70°, 90°, 110°, 120°). The activities were divided into three groups: the activities of daily living, personal care and hygiene, and modern activities of daily living. Activity performance was scored on a scale previously designed to assess the difficulty of performing a particular activity. Results, The highest overall score for all activities was at 90° elbow flexion (79.70±4.11), followed by 110° (76.17±4.01) and 70° (75.43±6.64). For modern activities of daily living, the highest score (43.77±1.33) was also at 90°. The 90° angle also allowed the highest percentage (86.6%) of task completion in all activity groups. Conclusion, Our study supports making elbow arthrodesis at 90° of flexion, which may also be applied to modern daily living activities. However, patients should be consulted about the preferred angle for elbow arthrodesis, as no single fusion angle allows for the performance of all modern daily living activities.