Functional outcome of patients treated with Latarjet procedure experience from resource limited setup

The shoulder joint has a great arc of motion, and it frequently develops recurrent instability. The Latarjet procedure was used frequently to treat recurrent shoulder instability and was also used for patients with fixed chronic shoulder dislocation that was unreduced for more than 3 weeks. There is a research gap in resource-limited settings regarding this topic. The aim of this study was to assess the functional outcome of patients who underwent a Latarjet procedure for recurrent shoulder instability and fixed unreduced shoulder dislocation separately.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on the functional outcome of patients treated with the Latarjet procedure done at Saint Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College from August 2019 to October 2022. Outcomes were assessed using the Rowe score and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder scale. Descriptive statistics were used with frequency, percentage, tables, and texts based on the nature of the data. Mean, median, and standard deviation were used to describe continuous variables.

Of the total of 45 patients included in the study, 25 patients (55.6%) were presented with recurrent anterior shoulder instability, whereas the remaining 20 patients (44.4%) were presented with chronic locked anterior shoulder dislocation. The mean Rowe and UCLA scores of patients with recurrent shoulder instability were 92 and 32.36, respectively, with 92% of them having an excellent Rowe grade. The mean Rowe and UCLA scores of patients with fixed unreduced chronic shoulder dislocations were 71.75 and 24.85, respectively, with only 30% excellent Rowe grade. The complication rate was 20% with recurrent instability rate of 6.7%.

The Latarjet procedure has excellent outcomes and is safe for patients with recurrent shoulder instability. Fixed unreduced chronic shoulder dislocation has a lower functional outcome score after the Latarjet procedure. Appropriate patient selection and identification should be employed for better outcomes.