Surgical management of ulnar nerve compression at the elbow: an analysis of the literature.

OBJECT: Surgical treatment for cubital ulnar nerve compression includes medial epicondylectomy, simple decompression, or anterior transposition (subcutaneous, intramuscular, or submuscular). There is a dearth of prospective randomized studies on which to base guidelines for choosing one operative treatment over another. The authors review the literature on this subject and present their findings.

METHODS: The authors reviewed the literature from January 1970 to July 1997. Two authors decided independently whether an article should be included for review based on previously formulated inclusion and exclusion criteria. In addition to demographic information, data concerning preoperative status and outcome were extracted. For statistical analyses chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed. Irrespective of their preoperative status, patients with simple decompression had the best outcome, whereas those with anterior subcutaneous and submuscular transposition had the worst. If outcome was related to the patient's preoperative status, a significant difference was not found among the various groups for those patients with a preoperative McGowan Grade 2. However, for those with McGowan Grade 3 (severe) symptoms, patients with anterior intramuscular transposition had the best outcome followed by those with simple decompression and anterior submuscular transposition. Statistical analysis was not possible for patients with McGowan Grade 1 because of the small numbers of patients in several treatment modality groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Formulating a uniform guideline for operative treatment is not possible based on the results of this study. However, the authors believe that support is given to their policy, which is primarily to perform a simple decompression. Its surgical simplicity with preservation of the anatomy, especially the vascularization, and the possibility of rapid postoperative rehabilitation are also taken into consideration. If subluxation is found intraoperatively, anterior transposition is proposed.