Results of surgical treatment of acromioclavicular dislocations type III using modified Weaver Dunn technique

To evaluate the clinical and radiological results of the surgical treatment of type III acromioclavicular dislocations using the Weaver-Dunn technique in the delayed phase.

A non-randomised controlled retrospective observational study of 38 patients operated between January 2006 and December 2014. We excluded 10 patients due to death or non-localisation. We collected demographic data, time to intervention, complications, analysing the Visual Analog Scale, DASH and Oxford Shoulder Score and the updated radiological result.

mean age of patients with right-dominant shoulder affected in 71% of cases predominantly by non-level falls was 35. 70% of the cases had subjective perception of both recovery of strength and disappearance of deformity. Full radiological reduction was observed in 95% of the cases with the appearance of mild osteoarthritis in 44% and moderate osteoarthritis in 5.6%. The results of the DASH presented values of 12,939 (±16,851) and the OSS of 42,736 (±7,794), indicating satisfactory articular function.

The data from this study shows similar results to previous studies regarding subjective recovery of strength, maintenance of anatomical reduction, functional test results and efficacy of the Weaver-Dunn technique.

The modified Weaver-Dunn technique provided good clinical and radiological results with patient reincorporation to their usual activities and maintenance over time.