Arthroscopic Repair in Anterior Shoulder Dislocation: Short-Term Results

Treatment of recurrent shoulder dislocation with open technique has a long successful history in orthopaedic surgery. Arthroscopic repair, however, has a much shorter history especially in Iran. This is a short-term follow-up study of such an operation in Iran. Forty patients (39 males, 1 female) with recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation who had undergone arthroscopic stabilization over a two-year period were evaluated in a retrospective study. The cases had a mean age of 25.3 years, and had 15.5 months (6-30 months) average follow-up. The assessment scores were “The University of California-Los Angeles” (UCLA), “Rowe” and “American Shoulder and Elbow Society Scores” (ASES). Mean Rowe score was 95.5 (77-100); with excellent scores in 32 patients, good in 4, fair in 3 and poor in one. Mean UCLA score was 33.3 (25-35), with good and excellent results in all but 4 cases. ASES was 2-3 in 3 patients, and the rest being painless and without any symptoms. Thirty six patients returned to their previous levels of activity, and achieved good results; the results were fair in 3, and poor in one patient who had recurrent instability. Short-term results of arthroscopic repair of anterior shoulder instability are encouraging.