Arthroscopic Treatment of Traumatic Posterior Shoulder Instability in Athletes

Abstract

Background Unidirectional traumatic posterior shoulder instability is a specific diagnosis that differs from the more common posteroinferior or multidirectional instabilities. The treatment usually requires a surgical procedure. Methods We treated 21 shoulders in 20 patients. The average age was 29.38 years (range 20 years to 53 years). All patients were involved in recreational sports. The mean follow-up was 28 months (range 12 months to 70 months). Results The postoperative clinical evaluation was based on the Rowe score. Twenty patients were considered to demonstrate excellent results and one patient was considered to show a regular result. Twenty patients were able to return to recreational sports at the same level. One patient returned to sport at a lower level and required playing adaptations. Conclusion In our series of 21 shoulders, pain was the major symptom in 15 patients with posterior labral detachment after a traumatic event. By contrast to classic Bankart lesion, which usually results in instability, the posterior labral detachment produced pain as the major symptom in this series of patients.