I quit playing tennis one year ago because of tennis elbow. I have had treatments such as bracing, therapy, medications, injections and magnetic. My job as a stockman is hard to do because of the pain and weakness. What exactly will surgery do for tennis elbow and how successful is it?

Symptoms of pain and weakness from tennis elbow can be quite debilitating. As you have experienced, the pain can continue after you stop the tennis activity. Your tennis-playing was likely the cause of your problem. Tennis elbow is a term used to describe pain on the outside (lateral aspect) of the elbow. It is the result of repeated stress on a short tendon that attaches to a bone in the elbow called the lateral epicondyle. Tennis elbow, known as lateral epicondylitis, is an inflammation and subsequent breakdown of the tendon that attaches to the lateral epicondyle of the elbow. Repeated stress on the tendon causes a vascular scar to form within the tendon tissue. These changes can cause pain, swelling, weakness and loss of motion. Most people with tennis elbow can be helped with non-operative treatments. The small percentage of patients who are not helped with those treatments should consider surgery, which involves removing the vascular scar tissue that has formed from the repeated stress and putting the remaining healthy tissue together. This surgery, when performed under the appropriate conditions, has a 97% success rate. ?