We report the effectiveness of revision of total
elbow replacement by re-cementing. Between 1982 and 2004, 53 elbows
in 52 patients were treated with re-cementing of a total elbow replacement
into part or all of the existing cement mantle or into the debrided
host-bone interface, without the use of structural bone augmentation
or a custom prosthesis. The original implant revision was still in
situ and functional in 42 of 53 elbows (79%) at a mean of
94.5 months (26 to 266) after surgery. In 31 of these 42 elbows
(74%) the Mayo Elbow Performance Score was good or excellent. Overall,
of the 53 elbows, 18 (34%) required re-operation, ten (19%) for
loosening. A classification system was developed to identify those
not suitable for revision by this technique, and using this we have
showed that successful re-implantation is statistically correlated
to properly addressing the bone deficiency for both the humeral
(p = 0.005) and the ulnar (p = 0.039) components.