Modified suture anchors for open bankart repair

To evaluate the efficacy of cancellous screws as suture anchors, in open Bankart repair.

Case series.

Department of Orthopaedics, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from March 2009 to October 2010.

Fourteen patients with recurrent anterior dislocation were included in the study. Through anterior approach three 4 mm partially threaded cancellous screws were placed at the anterior Glenoid rim. Prolene-1 suture was tied around these screws which acted as anterior anchors and was used to re-attach the capsule and labrum back to bone. The mean duration of follow-up was 8 months. The patients were evaluated at 3 monthly intervals with a physical examination, radiographs, the modified shoulder rating scale of Rowe and Zarins and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score.

The mean operating time was 58 minutes. There was no immediate/early postoperative complication. At the last follow-up none of the patients had recurrence or radiological evidence of hardware failure/complication. Eleven patients (79%) had a score of 90 points on the scale of Rowe and Zarins and 12 patients (85.7%) had a score of at least 90 points on the scale of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scale. Ten patients (71%) had full range of motion in all planes.

Use of cancellous screws as a suture anchor is a safe and cost-effective substitute of commercially available suture anchors in open Bankart repair.