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Purpose: Arthroscopy of the elbow has become a standard treatment option for many indications. The purpose of this article is to review literature concerning the use of arthroscopy for acute elbow injuries. Methods: The main medical literature databases were searched for articles on the use of elbow arthroscopy in acute injuries. A total of 13 publications relevant to the topic were included. The Coleman methodology score was used to assess the methods of each article. Results: All published articles have been case reports or retrospective case series. In fracture treatment, arthroscopy has been used in the treatment of displaced radial head, coronoid and capitellum fractures in adults and displaced radial neck and lateral humeral condyle fractures in children with good results. Endoscopic techniques have been used in distal biceps rupture and medial avulsion of the triceps. And also new techniques have been developed for the treatment of intra-articular soft-tissue lesions like rupture of the radial ulnohumeral ligament complex. One of the 13 studies analyzed was considered of good quality, 5 of moderate quality and all others of poor quality with inconsistent methodology and outcomes. Conclusion: The range of treatments using elbow arthroscopy in acute injuries is expanding and brings new controversies and challenges. Single reports of arthroscopically treated bony and soft-tissue injuries of the elbow showed satisfactory results. However, further randomized prospective studies are needed to evaluate their safety and efficacy compared with open 'gold standard' techniques. Level of evidence: IV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim was to identify alternative suture materials that might provide superior knot performance and equivalent ease of manipulation by means of an in vitro experimental study. Although used widely for arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation, absorbable poly(p-dioxanone) (PDS) monofilament sutures can lead to dehiscence and clinical failure due to knot slippage and/or loop elongation at low applied loads. With the objective of identifying alternative suture materials that might provide superior knot performance and equivalent ease of manipulation, an in vitro experiment was undertaken in which both Duncan and Snyder knotted loops were tied from four different suture materials using an arthroscopic knot pusher (Surgeon’s 6th Finger) and a wooden practice box (Arthrex). Three monofilament sutures, made from polypropylene (PROLENE), poly(glycolidetrimethylenecarbonate-co-dioxanone) (Biosyn) and PDS, and one braided polyester suture (SURGIDAC) were tested. Ease of manipulation was evaluated by measuring the time required to tie the knots, and the knot performance was assessed in terms of loop elongation and loop holding capacity by performing cyclic fatigue testing of the loops while they were immersed in saline on an INSTRON mechanical tester. The PROLENE and SURGIDAC sutures showed improvements in loop elongation and loop holding capacity over PDS, with the Snyder knots being consistently superior to Duncan knots. BIOSYN gave no improvement over PDS. Difficulties were encountered in advancing half-hitch throws of the braided SURGIDAC suture down the cannula, which resulted in longer knotting times. In conclusion, both the polypropylene and polyester sutures gave superior knot performance to PDS, but only the polypropylene gave equivalent ease of manipulation. As a result there may be clinical advantages in replacing PDS with monofilament polypropylene or braided polyester sutures for certain arthroscopic procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]