On the disadvantages of radical acromionectomy

We studied thirty consecutive patients who previously had a radical acromionectomy performed elsewhere. All had poor results from the procedure. Twenty-seven had persistent pain, all had marked weakness of the shoulder, and none could raise the arm above the horizontal. Eight had had serious wound complications. All objected to the appearance of the shoulder. We concluded that radical acromionectomy weakened the deltoid both by removing its lever arm and by encouraging retraction of the deltoid muscle became adherent to either the rotator cuff or the humerus, or both, and soon became fibrotic and permanently shortened. This combination of factors makes a successful reconstruction of the deltoid mechanism especially difficult.