As a degenerative joint disease, the incidence of elbow osteoarthritis increased significantly with the severe aging of the population in China. Ulnar nerve compression syndrome (CuTS) induced by elbow osteoarthritis could affect patients' quality of life, exceptionally moderate and severe CuTS. At present, there is still no recognized optimal treatment plan for treating this kind of patient, so it is of great value to actively explore safe and effective treatment measures to improve the quality of life of these patients. Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of Jiangu Capsule combined with arthroscopy and ulnar nerve release in the treatment of elbow osteoarthritis with ulnar nerve entrapment syndrome (CuTS) .

From January 2018 to May 2021, 80 patients with elbow osteoarthritis and CuTS admitted to Cangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Hebei Province were selected as research objects and randomly divided into observation and control groups with 40 cases in each group. The control group was treated with arthroscopy and ulnar nerve release, and the observation group was treated with Jiangu Capsule. After six months of treatment, the efficacy was evaluated by using the CuTS functional evaluation standard recommended by Gu Yudong. Before and after treatment, Mayo elbow joint function score (MEPS) and pain visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to measure elbow joint motion and electromyography. The side effects of the two groups were counted.

The excellent and good rate of CuTS function evaluation in the observation group was 75.00% (30/40) , which was significantly higher than that in the control group (52.50%, 21/40) (P<0.05) . After treatment, MEPS scores of both groups were substantially higher than those before treatment (P<0.05) , while VAS scores were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05) . After treatment, the MEPS score of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05) , and the VAS score of pain was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05) . After treatment, the degree of elbow flexion, supination, flexion, and extension in both groups increased significantly (P<0.05) , and the improvement in the observation group was more significant (P<0.05) . After treatment, NCV of the ulnar nerve and CAMP of abductor digiti quinti increased significantly (P<0.05) , while MEPLP of abductor digiti quinti shortened significantly (P<0.05) . After treatment, the nerve conduction velocity (NCV) of the ulnar nerve and the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) of abductor digiti quinti in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05) . In contrast, the latency of motor potential (MEPLP) of abductor digitorum minor was substantially shorter than that in the control group (P<0.05) . No noticeable side effects occurred in all subjects.

Jiangu Capsule combined with arthroscopy and ulnar nerve release can safely and effectively improve the functions of hands and elbows, increase the range of motion of joints and reduce the degree of pain.