AN ARTHROSCOPIC TECHNIQUE FOR ANTERIOR STABILIZATION OF THE SHOULDER WITH A BIOABSORBABLE TACK

Arthroscopically assisted repair of the anterior aspect of the labrum with use of a bioabsorbable tack was performed in fifty-two consecutiv e patients who had chronic anterior instability of the shoulder. The a verage age of the patients was twenty-eight years (range, sixteen to f ifty years). The etiology of the instability was a traumatic injury in forty-nine patients; twenty-six of those injuries were sustained duri ng participation in a contact sport. Fifty shoulders had a Bankart les ion. The patients were evaluated at an average of forty-two months (ra nge, twenty-four to sixty months) after the procedure. Forty-one (79 p er cent) of the patients were asymptomatic and were able to participat e in sports without restriction, The repair was considered to have fai led in eleven (21 per cent) of the patients. In four of them, the fail ure resulted from a single traumatic reinjury during participation in a contact sport, and three of these reinjuries were treated nonoperati vely. The remaining seven failures occurred atraumatically. Eight pati ents had an open glenoid-based capsulorrhaphy as a consequence of recu rrent instability. At the reoperation, no evidence of the tack was fou nd in any patient. In seven patients, the Bankart lesion had completel y healed, and the anteroinferior aspect of the capsule was patulous. A nterior stabilization of the shoulder with a bioabsorbable tack may be indicated for patients who have anterior instability but do not need a capsulorrhaphy or capsular imbrication to reduce the joint volume.