Conservative treatment of traumatic shoulder instability: a case series study

The aim of this case series study was to evaluate the efficacy of a rehabilitative approach to restoring stability, range of motion, and function of shoulder joint in non-operated adults presenting a first episode of traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation.

In this case series study, we evaluated patients aged from 20 to 44 years, with diagnosis of first episode of traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation. All participants underwent a conservative treatment protocol, lasting 3 months. The primary outcome measure was the Rowe score for instability. Follow-up evaluations were done at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months.

We evaluated 32 participants mean aged 27.94 ± 2.23 years. At the baseline (T 0), the participants had a mean Rowe score of instability of 44.53 ± 7.00 SD, where 81.25% had a poor score and 18.75% had a fair score. At 24 months (T 4), the Rowe score for instability was 79.84 ± 6.66 SD. 21.88% of patients had a fair score, 71.87% had a good score, and 6.25% had an excellent score.

We showed that our rehabilitative approach seems to be effective in the conservative management of shoulder instability in adults with first episode of traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation, not involved in sport activity, and not overhead workers.