Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cause of the injury and outcomes after arthroscopic stabilization in collision athletes.
Methods: Subjects consisted of 103 shoulders in 95 patients, including 24 American football and 71 rugby players, who underwent arthroscopic stabilization between January, 2004 and August, 2010. All patients were males and the average age at surgery was 21.6 years old. Arthroscopic capsulolabral reconstruction was performed using suture anchors. In shoulders with the bony Bankart lesion, bone fragment was incorporated into the Bankart repair. Arthroscopic bone grafting with capsulolabral reconstruction was performed if patients had significant bone loss. In addition, rotator interval was closed with the arm at side in maximum external rotation. The cause of the injury, surgical findings, ROM, recurrence rate, and level of return to sports were assessed in this case study.
Results: A majority of patients suffered shoulder dislocation by collision sports, and almost half of them suffered this during tackles. Surgical findings demonstrated 70 bony Bankart lesions, 33 SLAP lesions, 18 capsular tears and 3 HAGL lesions. Postoperative Rowe score improved significantly from 30.2 to 91.8. Ninety-three of 103 cases were followed for more than 12 months. Seventy-eight of 93 cases (83.9%) returned to their collision sports. Fifteen of 93 cases (16.1%) were not able to return to their collision sports due to social reasons in 12 and prolonged apprehensive sensation in 2 cases. Seven patients out of 103 (6.8%) experienced re-dislocation during their collision sports.
Conclusion: In collision athletes, several pathological lesions were observed in addition to Bankart lesion. Arthroscopic stabilization for collision athletes yielded satisfactory outcomes in terms of sports return and performance level. To prevent re-dislocation, athletic rehabilitation and skill-up training of tackling are necessary in addition to the appropriate IGHL tensioning during surgery.