Simple traumatic elbow dislocations; benefit from early functional rehabilitation A systematic review with meta-analysis including PRISMA criteria

Abstract

Introduction: Elbow dislocation is the second most frequent joint dislocation after shoulder dislocation. They have a high relevance because they can result in subsequent damage and limitations in range of motion. The treatment options are controversially discussed. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to review the literature and analyze the evidence of early functional rehabilitation. Methods:A systematic literature search was performed via Ovid Medline, whereby 1645 publications were identified and evaluated in a stepwise approach. Of these publications 29 met the inclusion criteria of the authors and described simple elbow dislocations in 5765 patients. Data from the studies and subgroups included were initially categorized descriptively in conservative and surgical primary therapies, in immobilizing (immobilization lasting 2 weeks or longer) and free-functional follow-up treatments, and those data were then extracted from each subgroup in absolutes. We then pooled these numbers into descriptive statistics to ensure their comparability. We determined the success rates from the numbers of excellent and good results of the specific used outcome scores. Results: The effect estimate of the conservative therapy's success rate was 84% and for surgical treatment 80% (P