Return to Sport After Arthroscopic Bankart Repair in Professional Male Football Players

Background/Objectives: Traumatic anterior shoulder instability is a clinically relevant problem in professional football (soccer) players, for whom restoration of shoulder function, postoperative stability and timely return to sport are critical. Despite a growing body of evidence supporting arthroscopic Bankart repair in athletic populations, data on sport-specific outcomes in professional male football players remain limited. Methods: Twenty-two professional male football (soccer) players who underwent arthroscopic Bankart repair following first-time anterior traumatic shoulder instability between 2011 and 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. No control group was included. The Rowe score and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score were assessed preoperatively and at 12 months postoperatively. Return-to-sport time was defined as the time from surgery to return to competitive match play and was recorded in weeks. Recurrent instability was assessed throughout the follow-up period. IBM SPSS Statistics, v27 was used for statistical analyses. Results: The median age was 25 years old (15-34). The right shoulder was involved in 15 patients (68%) and the left in 7 (32%). The median time to return to sport was 18 weeks (range, 14-25). During a median follow-up of 6.5 years (range, 4-14), recurrent instability occurred in one patient (4.5%) at 14 months after surgery. After surgery, both functional scores improved significantly. The median preoperative Rowe score increased from 55 (range, 35-60) to 100 (range, 85-100) (p < 0.001), and the median ASES score improved from 55 (range, 40-68) to 100 (range, 85-100) (p < 0.001) at 12 months. Postoperative ASES and Rowe scores were positively correlated (r = 0.666, p = 0.001). Neither score was significantly associated with return-to-sport timing. Conclusions: In this retrospective series of professional male football players with first-time anterior shoulder instability, arthroscopic Bankart repair was associated with significant improvements in 12-month Rowe and ASES scores, a median return-to-sport time of 18 weeks, and a low observed recurrence rate during long-term follow-up. These findings should be interpreted within the context of the study's retrospective design and limited sample size.