Learning About Surgery for Elbow Bursitis

Elbow bursitis is a painful swelling of the bursa around the tip of your elbow (called the olecranon). A bursa is a fluid-filled sac. It cushions and protects bones, joints, or tendons.

Your elbow bursa can become swollen because of an injury or overuse from work, sports, or other activities.

In most cases, elbow bursitis will heal with at-home treatments. At-home care may include resting the elbow, using cold packs, and taking medicines to lower pain and swelling. If you have an infection, your doctor may also prescribe antibiotics.

If your elbow doesn’t heal with at-home treatments, your doctor may do a small procedure called aspiration. This procedure removes the extra fluid around the bursa. Your doctor may also inject a medicine called corticosteroid to treat the swelling. This is usually done at a doctor’s office.

You may need surgery if your elbow still doesn’t heal after these treatments. Or you may need surgery if you have a severe infection that doesn’t get better with antibiotics.

There are two surgery options.

• Open bursectomy: The doctor makes a cut over the back of your elbow. Then they carefully remove the bursa.
• Arthroscopic bursectomy: The doctor makes several small cuts and uses a camera to look inside your elbow. Then they use small surgical tools to remove the bursa.

The doctor will also check for and remove any growths along the edges of a bone (bone spurs) that might be causing problems. Usually the elbow bursa grows back normally within a few months.

You’ll probably go home the day of the surgery. You'll have a splint on your elbow to let it to heal. It’s important to rest your elbow until it’s healed. That usually takes about 3 to 4 weeks. But your doctor may recommend that you start doing gentle movements to keep the muscles in your elbow working, starting a few days after surgery. You may need to keep your elbow padded for several months to prevent reinjury.

Talk with your doctor about what caused your elbow bursitis and how you can help keep it from happening again. For example, you might have to make changes to how you use your elbow during work or sports.

Most people recover well from elbow bursitis surgery. But like any surgery, it has some risks. These include:

• Infection.
• Blood clots.
• Bleeding.
• Nerve damage.