Long-term outcome of arthroscopic remplissage in addition to the classic Bankart repair for the management of recurrent anterior shoulder instability with engaging Hill-Sachs lesions.

PURPOSE: The evaluation of the long-term outcome of the arthroscopic remplissage performed in addition to the classic Bankart repair for the primary management of recurrent anterior shoulder instability with engaging Hill-Sachs lesion without inverted pear appearance of the glenoid during arthroscopy. METHODS: During a 6-year period, from 2007 to 2012, 65 patients whose average age was 30.1 ± 7.6 years were operated on in our department and satisfied the inclusion criteria of this study. They all had a positive apprehension sign preoperatively. Among them, 51 patients (82%) were available for long-term evaluation. The mean follow-up period was 8.1 ± 1.8 years (range 5.6-10.6). RESULTS: Three patients (5.6%) had suffered a new dislocation. The remaining patients (94.4%) were satisfied with the surgical result and returned to their previous daily activities, whereas 71% continued to participate in sports without restrictions. The ASES score increased from 72.5 (range 18-100) preoperatively to 100 (range 85-100) postoperatively (p < 0.01). The modified Rowe score increased from 40 (range 15-70) to 100 (range 70-100) (p < 0.001), and the Oxford Instability score from 29 (range 9-47) to 48 (range 36-48) (p < 0.001). No significant restriction in the shoulder range of motion was documented. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of the arthroscopic remplissage with the classic Bankart repair was proven to be a safe and effective procedure for the treatment of "engaging" Hill-Sachs lesions without inverted pear appearance of the glenoid. This combination has long-term outcomes in terms of the recurrence rate and does not significantly influence the range of motion of the shoulder. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Study-Case series with no comparison group, Level IV.

Treatment of SLAP Lesions.

BACKGROUND: The surgical treatment of a Superior Labrum Anterior and Posterior (SLAP) lesion becomes more and more frequent as the surgical techniques, the implants and the postoperative rehabilitation of the patient are improved and provide in most cases an excellent outcome. OBJECTIVE: However, a standard therapy of SLAP lesions in the shoulder surgery has not been established yet. An algorithm on how to treat SLAP lesions according to their type and data on the factors that influence the surgical outcome is essential for the everyday clinical practice. METHOD: In this article, a retrospective evaluation of patients with SLAP lesion, treated surgically in our orthopaedic clinic was conducted. RESULTS: According to the clinical outcome and our experience with the surgical therapy of SLAP lesions we demonstrate an algorithm on the proper therapeutic approach. CONCLUSION: SLAP I lesions are treated with debridement. Most controversies concern patients with SLAP II lesions, whose therapy is either fixation of the superior labrum or tenotomy/tenodesis of the long head of the biceps tendon. For patients with SLAP III or IV lesions the most commonly accepted approach is tenotomy or tenodesis of the long head of biceps tendon.