Arthroscopic findings in the recurrent anterior instability of the shoulder

A recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation consists of a variety of lesion types.

To evaluate the pathological classification of recurrent anterior dislocation of the shoulder joint under arthroscopy.

Thirty-one patients with recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation were inspected by arthroscopy, including 23 males and 8 females, with a mean age of 35.1 (18-46) years. The patients were divided into two groups: 17 with shoulder dislocation and hyper-laxity (the hyper-laxity group) and 14 with only traumatic shoulder dislocation (the trauma group). All the patients were assessed by arthroscopy for pathological changes, and the differences in the pathological changes were compared between the two groups.

All these 31 patients suffered from anteroinferior labrum injury. Twenty-five had Hill-Sachs injury; 27, bone or cartilage injury of anteroinferior glenoid; 16, SLAP injury; and 5, rotator cuff injury. Bankart injury occurred more in the trauma group, and anterior labroligamentous periosteal sleeve avulsion injury and glenolabral articular disruption injury were more in the hyper-laxity group. Bone or cartilage injury of anteroinferior glenoid was more noticed in the trauma group.

Significant differences are found under arthroscopy in the pathological changes of recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation between the purely traumatic group and the hyper-laxity group. The pathological changes in the trauma group were more severe than in the hyper-laxity group.