Ultrasound-guided Percutaneous Tenotomy Shows Sustained Clinical and Sonographic Outcomes for Recalcitrant Lateral Elbow Tendinopathy at 7.5 Years

OBJECTIVES: In our previously published study, 20 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous tenotomy for recalcitrant lateral elbow tendinopathy were followed up clinically and sonographically for 3 years, demonstrating sustained pain relief and functional improvement, with sonographic evidence of tissue healing. We aim to explore the long-term clinical and sonographic results of ultrasound-guided percutaneous tenotomy. METHODS: The same cohort of patients were recalled at 7-8 years and assessed for visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) scores, need for secondary intervention, and overall satisfaction. They were also reassessed with ultrasound imaging to evaluate tendon hypervascularity, tendon thickness, and the progress or recurrence of the hypoechoic scar tissue. RESULTS: We successfully scored 19 subjects and performed ultrasound on 16 subjects, with a follow up of 90 (median±standard deviation: 90±2.7; range: 86-94) months. Among them, one patient had subsequently undergone surgical fixation for an ipsilateral radial head fracture 6 years after ultrasound-guided percutaneous tenotomy, and was thus excluded from the study. There were no adverse outcomes and satisfaction remained at 100% (6 satisfied, 12 very satisfied). No patient developed a recurrence of lateral elbow tendinopathy, and therefore no secondary intervention was required. The improvement from baseline and early term scores was sustained as seen in figure 1. There was no significant change in VAS score (median±SD: 0±1.0; range: 0-4) at 7.5 years, compared to 3 years (0±0.9; 0-3) (p=1.000) or DASH-Compulsory score (0±4.51; 0-13.3) at 7.5 years compared to 3 years (0±0.644; 0-2) (p=0.627) or DASH-Work score (0±6.61; 0-25) at 7.5 years compared to 3 years (0±0; 0)(p=1.000), although there were isolated cases of increased DASH scores due to rotator cuff issues, as described by the patients, which were consistent with degeneration. DASH-Sports/performing arts had too few responses for analysis. At current, hypervascularity remained resolved in 13/16 (81%) subjects, 16/16 (100%) subjects had reduced tendon swelling, and 15/16 (94%) had sustained resolution or reduction of the hypoechoic lesion (Figure 2). CONCLUSION: At long term follow up, ultrasound-guided percutaneous tenotomy, previously shown to enhance recovery of lateral elbow tendinopathy, demonstrates good sustainability of pain relief and functional recovery that was previously achieved, accompanied with sonographic evidence of tissue healing at 7.5 years.