POSTEROSUPERIOR SURGICAL ACCESS ROUTE FOR TREATMENT OF ACROMIOCLAVICULAR DISLOCATIONS: RESULTS FROM 84 SURGICAL...

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Sports Medicine
• Traumatology

Background:

• Acute acromioclavicular (AC) dislocation is a common shoulder injury.
• Surgical intervention is often necessary for severe AC dislocations (e.g., Grade III Allman-Tossy).
• Traditional surgical approaches may have limitations in accessing the coracoid process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of surgical treatment for acute acromioclavicular dislocation.
• To assess the efficacy of a novel posterosuperior access route for coracoid process fixation.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective evaluation of 84 patients with acute AC dislocation (Grade III).
• Surgical repair performed within three weeks of injury using a posterosuperior shoulder approach with anchor fixation.
• Postoperative assessment at minimum 12 months using modified Karlsson criteria and University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) score.

Main Results:

• Over 92% of patients achieved good or excellent results based on the UCLA score.
• Approximately 76% of patients were graded as 'A' using the modified Karlsson criteria.
• Only 7.2% of patients reported fair or poor outcomes.

Conclusions:

• The posterosuperior access route provides effective surgical access to the coracoid process for AC dislocation repair.
• This approach demonstrates clinical and radiographic results comparable to established treatment methods.
• It represents a valuable alternative surgical technique for managing acute acromioclavicular dislocations.