The effect of ulnar stem length in total elbow arthroplasty, a national registry study
Approval date: April 17th 2026
B The, MA Pennings, MJD Vles, AA Macken, D Eygendaal, A Nijs, I Koenraadt-van Oost
Research proposal abstract:
Total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) involves resection of the articulating surfaces of the humerus and ulna, and optionally the radial head. Indications for TEA have expanded, and innovations have improved implant quality, making it a procedure that is increasingly performed. However, the incidence of revision TEA is rising at a greater rate than primary TEA. Revision TEA, in particular, remains surgically challenging.
The longer the implant stem, the harder it is to access cement distal from the implant. To date, an academic hiatus exists regarding the performance of ulnar implants with different stem lengths.
This study aims to investigate whether there is a difference in survival between short-stemmed ulnar implants and implants with regular or longer lengths.
The Kaplan-Meier method will be used to estimate implant survival. Survival rates will be compared using the log rank test,where a statistically significant difference is denoted as a p-value lower than 0.05. If favorable results for the short-stemmed ulnar implant is found, this could improve TEA survival and make TEA revisions easier.