The purpose of this study was to compare patients with anterior should
er instability who were treated with an open Bankart procedure with th
ose treated with an arthroscopic procedure, During a 3-year period, 43
patients (44 shoulders) were surgically treated, Thirty-four patients
were available for followup, Eighteen shoulders had open Bankart proc
edure, and 16 shoulders were treated arthroscopically, Capsular laxity
can be better assessed with the open procedure, A Bankart lesion was
found in all the patients in both series, Average followup for Group 1
was 34 months, and for Group 2, it was 23 months, Group 1 had 83% goo
d to excellent results with no recurrent dislocation or reoperation, G
roup 2 had 50% good to excellent results, and 50% fair to poor results
with 3 recurrent dislocations and 4 recurrent subluxations that requi
red second operation. The average loss of external rotation in Group 1
was not significantly greater than that in Group 2, Sixteen patients
in Group 1 and 8 patients in Group 2 were able to return to their prim
ary work or sport, Results of arthroscopic Bankart repair do not equal
those of the open Bankart procedure for the rate of recurrence and po
stoperative range of motion, The followup reported is short, and more
dislocations can be anticipated with longer followup.