No Wonder I Hurt

Today I got to see the "Operative Report" from my Orthopaedic Surgeon.  Here's what it said:

Date of Service:  8/12/2009

PREOPERATIVE DIAGNOSIS:  Right elbow chronic lateral epicondylitis.

POSTOPERATIVE DIAGNOSIS:  Right elbow chronic lateral epicondylitis.

PROCEDURE PERFORMED:  Right elbow extensor tendon aponeurosis debridement -- repair.

SURGEON:  <Surgeon's Name>

ASSISTANT:  <Assistant's Name>

ANESTHESIA:  General.

COMPLICATIONS:  None.

DRAINS:  None.

OPERATIVE NOTE:  The patient was taken to the operating room.  After induction of general anesthesia, the patient's right arm was prepped and draped in sterile manner.  The right arm was elevated, exsanguinated, and tourniquet inflated to 250 mmHg.

An incision was made over the lateral epicondyle.  Sharp disseciton was carried through skin and subcutaneous tissue.  Extensor carpi radialis longus was divided and, beneath that, there was degenerative torn extensor carpi radialis brevis which was debrided back to healthy tissue.  The lateral epicondyle was lightly debrided, and several small drill holes were placed.  The tendon was then reapproximated and sewn with 2-0 figure-of-eight Vicryl sutures.  The skin was closed with 3-0 Monocryl subcutaneous sutures and Steri-Strips.  Marcaine 0.5% was injected in the wound.  A sterile compression dressing with sugar-tong splint was applied.  The patient was taken to the recovery room in stable condition.

So that's what happened.  It's nice to see again that "there was degenerative torn extensor carpi radialis brevis,"  meaning that yes, the tendon WAS torn, and that this wouldn't have gotten better by itself.  No, not good that I had to have the surgery, but it IS good that the surgery discovered exactly what was expected and the surgery wasn't for nothing.

Interesting to me was that my right arm was "exsanguinated."  This means that they used a very tight compression wrap to force as much blood as possible out of my arm.  Then the tourniquet kept as much blood as possible from returning to my arm.  Doing this results in a nearly bloodless operation.

"Several small drill holes were placed."  It's no wonder that I'm still aching.  It's no wonder that there's still a tiny bit of swelling.  One of the extensor tendons was split and the other was basically scraped until all of the "degenerative" tissue was gone.  It's no wonder that the tendons are still tight and hurt when I stretch them.

Actually, it's amazing that I'm doing as well as I am at this point.  I'm just over 4 weeks post-surgery and I feel like I'm making good progress.  I still get frustrated now and again.  I still get tired of the pain.  But all things considered, I'm doing very well.