REVIEW article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Orthopedic Surgery
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2025.1643326
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Musculoskeletal Health: Bridging Basic and Clinical Research on Biomechanical Properties of Joints, Ligaments, Tendons, and Associated StructuresView all 6 articles
Post-traumatic Elbow Stiffness: Etiology, Risk factors and Current treatments
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xi'an Medical University, Xi'an, China
- 2Honghui Hospital, Xi'an, China
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Post-traumatic elbow stiffness is a major cause of functional impairment after elbow trauma, affecting 10%-15% o f p a t i e n t s . A 50% reduction in elbow range of motion can lead to an 80% decline in upper limb functionality, significantly impairing work performance and social participation. Based on a systematic search of Pub Med, Web of Science, China Knowledge Net and other databases, this paper systematically reviewed the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic elbow stiffness. While open and arthroscopic lysis remain effective when nonoperative treatment fails, the timing of surgery and the duration of postoperative immobilization remain controversial. Early and individualized rehabilitation is critical, and future research will focus on optimizing individualized treatment protocols and multidisciplinary treatment modalities.
Keywords: post-traumatic elbow stiffness, diagnosis, Treatment, Surgical release, Risk factors
Received: 08 Jun 2025; Accepted: 07 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Fan, Xu, Fei, Liu, Yang and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhe Song, Honghui Hospital, Xi'an, China
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