ACTA FAC. MED. NAISS. 2006; 23(2):91-97

 Original article

ARTHROSCOPIC VERSUS OPEN STABILIZATION FOR TRAUMATIC ANTERIOR SHOULDER INSTABILITY: A COMPARISON OF CLINICAL OUTCOMES

Kyung HS1, Micic ID2, Jeon IH1

1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University Daegu, Korea
2Clinic of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Clinical Center Nis, Faculty of Medicine, Nis, Serbia

SUMMARY

With the advance of arthroscopic surgical technique and instruments, minimal invasive arthroscopic reconstruction has become preferred treatment method for Bankart reconstruction.
The aim of this study was to describe surgical technique and report the results after either open or arthroscopic Bankart shoulder stabilization in a retrospective series with a medium-term follow-up.
We performed a retrospective study comprising 43 patients (43 shoulders) with symptomatic, traumatic anterior shoulder instability to compare open versus arthroscopic reconstruction. Twenty eight arthroscopic reconstructions and fifteen open reconstructions were performed using metal suture anchors. All of the patients had the Bankart lesion.
Independent observers examined the shoulders at a median follow-up period of 41.1 months (range, 16 to 57) for the arthroscopic group and 68.1 months (range, 51 to 113) for the open group. The recurrence rate was two of 15 (13%) in the open group and 7.1% (2 out of 28) in the arthroscopic group. During the follow-up, the Rowe score was 84.3 points (range, 39 to 100) in the open group compared with 87.3 points (range, 53 to 100 for the Rowe scores, respectively) in the arthroscopic group.
Both methods produced stable and well-functioning shoulders in the most of patients with the Bankart lesion. Although the arthroscopic technique can lead to a higher recurrence rate, better results were attained for external rotation of the shoulder in the patients treated with this minimally invasive technique.

Key words: Bankart lesion, shoulder, arthroscopic reconstruction