Cutis arthroplasty of the elbow joint.

Five patients with an average age of thirty-five years had satisfactory restoration of elbow motion by a cutis arthroplasty technique with minimum medial-lateral instability. In three patients marked stiffness or ankylosis had followed severe fractures or dislocations. The fourth patient had rheumatoid arthritis, and the fifth had sustained a birth injury to the brachial plexus. An average follow-up of three and one-half years confirmed the durability of the results.