Arthroscopic versus Open Stabilization for Traumaticanterior Shoulder Instability: Acomparison of Clinicaloutcomes

With the advance of arthroscopic surgical technique and instruments, minimal invasive arthroscopic reconstruction has become preferred treatment method forBankart reconstruction. The aim of this study was to describe surgical technique and report the results after either open or arthroscopic Bankart shoulder stabilization in a retrospective serieswith amedium-term follow-up. We performed a retrospective study comprising 43 patients (43 shoulders) with symptomatic, traumatic anterior shoulder instability to compare open versus arthroscopic reconstruction. Twenty eight arthroscopic reconstructions and fifteen open reconstructions were performed using metal suture anchors.All of thepatients had theBankart lesion. Independent observers examined the shoulders at a median follow-up period of 41.1 months (range, 16 to 57) for the arthroscopic group and 68.1 months (range, 51 to 113) for the open group. The recurrence rate was two of 15 (13%) in the open group and 7.1% (2 out of 28) in the arthroscopic group. During the follow-up, the Rowe score was 84.3 points (range, 39 to 100) in the open group compared with 87.3 points (range, 53 to 100 for the Rowe scores, respectively) in the arthroscopic group. Both methods produced stable and well-functioning shoulders in the most of patients with the Bankart lesion. Although the arthroscopic technique can lead to a higher recurrence rate, better results were attained for external rotation of the shoulder in the patients treated with this minimally invasive technique.