Operative treatment of acute acromioclavicular joint dislocations graded Rockwood III-V: a retrospective and comparative study between three different surgical techniques.

BACKGROUND: the optimal treatment of acute type III-V acromioclavicular (A-C) Rockwood dislocations is still a matter of discussion in orthopaedic surgery. AIM OF THE WORK: retrospective and comparative evaluation of the clinical and radiographic results of three different surgical techniques for stabilization of A-C joint using tension band wiring, hook plate and TightRope. METHODS: a consecutive series of patients, treated from January 2014 and November 2019, were divided into three groups according to the surgical method used. They were clinically and radiographically assessed and the results were compared with those present in the literature. RESULTS: 66 patients, with a mean age of 44.7 years, were enrolled with a mean follow-up of 37.7 months (range 6-58 months). All patients, regardless of the group, had satisfactory outcome. According to the DASH score, statistically significant difference favours the TightRope Group (TRG) fixation (p<0.005). The TRG showed the highest mean Constant score (96,1); there are no significative differences between the clinical scores of Hook Plate Group (HPG) and Tension Band Wiring Group (TBWG). However, these two methods showed numerous complications, especially metal-work mobilization and stiffness respectively. CONCLUSIONS: good results can be overall achieved with primary fixation by the three different surgical methods under investigation. The TightRope system exhibited some advantages such as higher clinical scores, early recovery of range of  movements, longitudinal surgical incision with non-keloid scar, no need for a second surgery and lower rate of complications.

Hip arthroscopy with initial access to the peripheral compartment provides significant improvement in FAI patients.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the clinical and radiographic results of arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) using the technique of initial access to the peripheral compartment. It is based on a single surgeon large case series with a minimum of 2 years follow-up. METHODS: Prospective longitudinal study with consecutive patients. Inclusion criteria were the presence of FAI syndrome that had failed non-operative treatment and had a hip arthroscopy with initial access to the peripheral compartment. Exclusion criteria were previous hip surgery, patients younger than 16 or older than 60 years, Tönnis grade ≥ 2 osteoarthritis, hip dysplasia based on radiographic evidence of LCEA less than 25° and workers compensation cases. One hundred and sixty hips met the inclusion criteria, 84 were female and 70 were male patients (six bilateral cases), with a median age of 36 years (range 16-59). RESULTS: The median alpha angle correction was 22.6º (range 5.9-46.7) (p < 0.01) and the average LCEA correction when acetabuloplasty was undertaken was 6.5º (range - 1.4-20.8) (p < 0.01). The mean NAHS at baseline was 56.1 (range 16-96) and improved to 83.2 at the last follow up (range 44-100) for the patients that had no additional procedure (p < 0.01). The mean average improvement was 27.7º points (range - 16-73). No iatrogenic labral perforation and no full-thickness chondral damage were recorded during the arthroscopic procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Favourable outcomes are reported for the arthroscopic treatment of FAI with initial access to the peripheral compartment. The technique is protective against iatrogenic chondral and labral damage, more conservative to the joint capsule, but the mean traction time was relatively long when suture anchors were used. The results are comparable to the classic initial central compartment approach. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.