Background

Previously, the Coonrad-Morrey elbow system has typically been performed using linked-type total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) implants. However, this implant have been reported to be associated with some problems, such as wearing down, loosening, the complexity of the necessary surgical techniques and inappropriate implant size for Asian people.

The Discovery elbow system (Biomet Inc., Warsaw, US) has recently been developed and it has many advantages when compared to Coonrad-Morrey implant, but the treatment outcome for this system is unclear in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).