Establishing Clinical Significance for Patients Undergoing Arthroscopic Repair of Type II SLAP Lesions

Type II superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesions may be treated with either arthroscopic repair or biceps tenodesis. There are no previous reports of measures of clinically significant improvement after arthroscopic repair of SLAP lesions.

To establish the minimal clinically important difference (MCID), Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS), and substantial clinical benefit (SCB) for patients undergoing arthroscopic repair for type II SLAP lesions.

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

A total of 69 arthroscopic repair procedures for isolated type II SLAP lesions were performed in a military population. The mean age was 28.1 ± 4.7 years, 97.1% were male, and the mean follow-up was 99.5 ± 19.7 months. The MCID, PASS, and SCB were calculated for each patient-reported outcome measure, consisting of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE), and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, using anchor- and distribution-based models. Factors associated with achieving a clinically relevant improvement were also determined.

The MCID, PASS, and SCB for each measure were as follows: 7.7, 70, and 34 for the ASES score, respectively; 10.4, 80, and 45 for the SANE, respectively; and 1.0, 4, and 6 for the VAS pain, respectively. At least 85% of patients achieved the MCID for each measure; however, PASS rates were lower, with 50.7% for the SANE and 69.6% for both the ASES score and VAS pain. The ASES score had the highest percentage of patients achieving the SCB at 44.9%, followed by the SANE (26.1%) and VAS pain (10.1%). Greater forward flexion at final follow-up was associated with achieving the MCID and PASS for both the ASES score and SANE. Internal rotation stiffness at final follow-up was negatively associated with achieving the PASS for the VAS pain. Combat arms military occupational specialty was associated with a lesser likelihood of achieving the SCB for the ASES score.

Clinical metrics of improvement were defined for the ASES score, SANE, and VAS pain using the MCID, PASS, and SCB for patients undergoing arthroscopic repair of type II SLAP lesions. Better final range of motion was positively associated with achieving improvement, while high-intensity military duty was negatively associated.