Evaluation of Patients with Acromioclavicular Joint Separation Treated Using the Clavicular Hook Plate

This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of patients who underwent surgical treatment using the clavicular hook plate for diagnosed Rockwood Type 3 - Type 4 - Type 5 acromioclavicular joint separation.

Patients who were operated with the diagnosis of acute traumatic acromioclavicular joint separation between the years 2017-2021 were evaluated retrospectively. Patients' age, gender, mechanism of injury, time to surgery, follow-up duration, and complications were evaluated. Functional results were evalu-ated using pre-op and post-op VAS and the Constant-Murley Shoulder Score.

A total of thirty patients admitted with the diagnosis of acromioclavicular joint separation were included. All patients underwent surgical treatment using the clavicular hook plate. Twenty (66.6%) patients were male and 10 (33.6%) were female. Seventeen of the patients were admitted due to sports injuries, 6 due to traffic accidents, and 7 due to workplace accidents. The patients were followed up for an average of 26.1 weeks. The Rockwood Classification was used for classification of injuries. Accordingly, 12, 13, and 5 of the patients had Type 3, Type 4, and Type 5 injury, respectively. While the mean pre-op VAS score was 7.4 (5-9), it was 1.8 (1-4) in the post-op period. The mean pre-op Constant-Murley score was 31.5 (22-42), compared to 85.1 (72-100) in the post-op period. The differences between the pre-op and post-op VAS and Constant-Murley Shoulder Scores were statistically significant.

In this study, we achieved good functional results in the treatment of acromioclavicular joint separation by using a clavicular hook plate providing stable fixation and allowing early mobilization.