Arthroscopic Hill-Sachs remplissage: a systematic review

Failure to address humeral osseous defects during arthroscopic stabilization surgery for glenohumeral instability leads to an increased rate of recurrence. Arthroscopic remplissage has been proposed as a treatment option for substantial Hill-Sachs lesions. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the outcomes of the remplissage procedure for the treatment of anterior glenohumeral instability of the shoulder with a humeral head defect.

A systematic literature review was performed to evaluate the outcomes of arthroscopic Hill-Sachs remplissage. Studies that reported on patients who underwent arthroscopic infraspinatus tenodesis concomitant with a standard Bankart repair were included if they had relevant clinical outcomes and associated complications. The frequency-weighted mean was calculated for outcome measures that were similar across several studies.

Six studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The studies included 167 patients (mean age, 27.5 years) with a mean follow-up of 26.8 months (range, twelve to forty-three months). Patients had a frequency-weighted mean adjusted Rowe score of 36.1 preoperatively compared with 87.6 postoperatively (p < 0.001). In the studies with motion measurements, shoulder motion was not affected postoperatively (p > 0.05); mean forward elevation changed from 165.7° preoperatively to 170.3° postoperatively, and mean external rotation changed from 57.2° to 54.6°. Nine of 167 shoulders experienced an episode of recurrent glenohumeral instability (overall recurrence rate, 5.4%).

Postoperative clinical outcome scores were generally good to excellent following arthroscopic remplissage. No studies indicated a significant loss of shoulder motion following the procedure. The failure rate following Hill-Sachs remplissage compared favorably with previously published rates for patients without clinically important Hill-Sachs lesions who underwent arthroscopic Bankart repair alone. The overall complication rate across the studies was low, further supporting the use of this technique along with Bankart repair in the treatment of glenohumeral instability with a concurrent osseous defect of the humeral head.