Recognition and Differentiation of Baker Lesions in Lateral Epicondylitis During Arthroscopic Debridement

Abstract

Recognition of lateral capsular disruptions (Baker lesions) that are commonly identified during arthroscopic lateral epicondylitis release is important because understanding that these lesions exist—and the variation of their arthroscopic appearance—is important. In addition, identifying Baker lesions serves as evidence supporting lateral epicondylitis as the cause of symptoms. The purposes of this article are to describe the classification system and to arthroscopically show examples of each lesion type, as well as to describe our technique for arthroscopic lateral epicondylitis release.