Cubital Tunnel Syndrome in Patients with and without Prior Elbow Trauma: A Retrospective, Observational Case Series

Cubital tunnel syndrome (CuTS) is the second most common peripheral nerve disorder of the upper limb and results from compression at anatomically vulnerable points along the course of the ulnar nerve. A total of 26 consecutive patients with CuTS who underwent surgical treatment by a single surgeon between January 2017 and March 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic characteristics, history of prior elbow trauma, clinical presentation, electrophysiological findings, surgical findings, and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. Three patients had documented major prior elbow trauma and were described individually. In the posttraumatic cases, preoperative neurological deficits were heterogeneous, and intraoperative findings included perineural fibrosis, altered tissue consistency, and an anomalous anconeus muscle. One of the three patients with prior elbow trauma improved by one McGowan grade, while two remained in the same grade at 12 months. All three demonstrated improvement in sensory symptoms, while motor recovery was variable and more limited in the patients with persistent higher-grade deficits. Postoperative complaints were limited to operative-site pain and transient paresthesia in two patients. Given the small number of posttraumatic cases, these findings are descriptive and hypothesis-generating rather than suitable for inferential comparison.