Arthroscopic Bankart repair for traumatic anterior shoulder instability with the use of suture anchors.

INTRODUCTION: The arthroscopic method offers a less invasive technique of Bankart repair for traumatic anterior shoulder instability. The results continue to improve with the advancements made in instrumentation and technique. This study aims to evaluate the outcome of arthroscopic Bankart repair with the use of suture anchors for cases that were followed-up for at least two years from the date of surgery.

METHODS: This was a consecutive series of 40 shoulders in 37 patients who underwent arthroscopic Bankart repair with suture anchor. The mean age at the time of operation was 26.3 years. The patients were assessed with two different outcome measurement tools (the University of California at Los Angeles [UCLA] shoulder rating scale and simple shoulder test [SST] score). The mean duration of follow-up was 30.2 months. The recurrence rate, range of motion, and postoperative function were evaluated.

RESULTS: The two shoulder scores significantly improved after surgery (p-value is less than 0.05). According to the UCLA scale, 37 shoulders (92.5 percent) had excellent or good scores, one shoulder (2.5 percent) had a fair score, and two (five percent) had poor scores. All 12 components of SST showed improvement, which was statistically significant. Overall, the rate of postoperative recurrence was 7.5 percent (three shoulders). All patients either maintained or demonstrated improvement of range of motion. There was no loss of external rotation range of motion postoperatively.

CONCLUSION: Arthroscopic Bankart repair with the use of suture anchors is a reliable treatment method that can provide a good clinical outcome with excellent postoperative shoulder motion and low recurrence rate.