So many modalities have been suggested for the treatment of servere pain and ankylosis of the elbow with destruction of the articular surfaces. Among them, two major methods which have been widely used are resection arthroplasty and prosthetic replacement arthroplasty. However prosthetic replacement arthroplasty has some problems. Its indications are limited in the elderly inactive subjects. And there have been many kinds of complications including loosening and infection. Also, resection arthroplasty in now rarely indicated due to severe instability. From July 1980 to July 1987, we tried distraction arthroplasty in 8 cases of elbow with severe destruction of its articular surfaces, mainly in the young active persons. The average follow-up period was 45 months. The effect of distraction arthroplasty on relief of pain was not remarkable. The average increase in ROM, including that of one reankylosed elbow, was 51 ±22 degrees in flexion-extension and 48 ±23 degrees in pronstion-supinstion. No deep wound infection and instability which was main complication of resection arthroplasty were observed with our method of distraction arthroplasty. On the basis of functional results, the the results were excellent in 4, good in 1, fair in 2 and poor in 1 cases. In conclusion, distraction arthroplasty of the elbow can be one of the of effective methods reconstruction for the young active patients with the destruction of the elbow, if they are intelligent and motivated.