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Primary Arthroscopic Stabilization for a First-Time Anterior Dislocation of the Shoulder

A Randomized, Double-Blind Trial

¹ The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Old Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh EH16 4SU, United Kingdom. E-mail address for C.M. Robinson: c.mike.robinson{at}ed.ac.uk

Investigation performed at The Edinburgh Shoulder Injury Clinic, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Disclosure: The authors did not receive any outside funding or grants in support of their research for or preparation of this work. Neither they nor a member of their immediate families received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, division, center, clinical practice, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors, or a member of their immediate families, are affiliated or associated.

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Methods: In a single-center, double-blind clinical trial, eighty-eight adult patients under thirty-five years of age who had sustained a primary anterior glenohumeral dislocation were randomized to receive either an arthroscopic examination and joint lavage alone or together with an anatomic repair of the Bankart lesion. Assessment of the rate of recurrent instability, functional outcome (with use of three scores), range of movement, patient satisfaction, direct health-service costs, and treatment complications was completed for eighty-four of these patients (forty-two in each group) during the subsequent two years.

Results: In the two years after the primary dislocation, the risk of a further dislocation was reduced by 76% and the risk of all recurrent instability was reduced by 82% in the Bankart repair group compared with the group that had arthroscopy and lavage alone. The functional scores were also better (p < 0.05), the treatment costs were lower (p = 0.012), and patient satisfaction was higher (p < 0.001) after arthroscopic repair. The improved functional outcome appeared to be mediated through the prevention of instability since the functional outcome in patients with stable shoulders was similar, irrespective of the initial treatment allocation. The patients who had a Bankart repair and played contact sports were also more likely to have returned to their sport at two years (relative risk = 3.4, p = 0.007).

Conclusions: Following a first-time anterior dislocation of the shoulder, there is a marked treatment benefit from primary arthroscopic repair of a Bankart lesion, which is distinct from the so-called background therapeutic effect of the arthroscopic examination and lavage of the joint. However, primary repair does not appear to confer a functional benefit to patients with a stable shoulder at two years after the dislocation.

Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level I. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

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