Evidence on the safety and efficacy of lateral elbow resurfacing for arthritis is limited in quantity and quality. Therefore, this procedure should only be used with special arrangements for clinical governance, consent, and audit or research. Find out what special arrangements mean on the NICE interventional procedures guidance page.
Clinicians wishing to do lateral elbow resurfacing for arthritis should:
Inform the clinical governance leads in their healthcare organisation.
Give patients (and their families and carers as appropriate) clear written information to support shared decision making, including NICE's information for the public.
Ensure that patients (and their families and carers as appropriate) understand the procedure's safety and efficacy, and any uncertainties about these.
Enter details about all patients having the procedure onto the National Joint Registry. Clinicians should also audit and review their outcomes locally.
Discuss the outcomes of the procedure during their annual appraisal to reflect, learn and improve.
Healthcare organisations should:
Ensure systems are in place that support clinicians to collect and report data on outcomes and safety for every patient having this procedure.
Regularly review data on outcomes and safety for this procedure.
The procedure should only be done in specialist centres by surgeons who do elbow arthroplasty regularly and have training in this specific technique.
Report any problems with a medical device using the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's Yellow Card Scheme.
Further research, which could include case series with long-term follow up, should report range of motion, patient-reported outcomes and complications.
NICE may update the guidance on publication of further evidence.