Arthroscopic capsular advancement for anterior and anterior-inferior shoulder instability: a preliminary report

The arthroscopic treatment of anterior and anterior-inferior shoulder instability has been limited by the surgeon's ability to adequately advance the glenohumeral ligament complex medially and superiorly. We describe a modification of the arthroscopic Bankart repair that includes an inferior capsular split. This technique allows up to 2 cm of additional capsular advancement, thus providing greater reduction of the stretched or redundant capsule if necessary. The short-term results in four cases are presented.