Immediate self-rehabilitation after open Latarjet procedures enables recovery of preoperative shoulder mobility at 3 months.

PURPOSE: To evaluate short-term clinical outcomes of shoulders treated for anterior instability by open Latarjet procedures (OLP) followed by immediate self-rehabilitation. The hypothesis was that patients would recover preoperative function at 3 months with no adverse events related to self-rehabilitation.

METHODS: The authors retrieved clinical and radiographic records of 307 consecutive shoulders treated by the same surgeon for anterior instability by OLP with immediate self-rehabilitation. Four shoulders did not meet eligibility criteria and 38 were lost to follow-up, leaving a study cohort of 265 shoulders. Patients performed self-rehabilitation exercises at home from the first postoperative day. Follow-ups at 1 and 3 months evaluated recurrence of instability, postoperative complications, pain, active forward elevation (AFE), passive forward elevation (PFE), external rotation (ER) and internal rotation (IR).

RESULTS: The difference between mobility before surgery and at 3 months was 0° for AFE, 0° for PFE, 10° for ER, and 0 spine segments for IR. Thirteen shoulders (5%) which had not followed the self-rehabilitation protocol during the first month had significantly more pain and less improvements in mobility (p < 0.05). Multivariable analyses revealed that patients who adhered to self-rehabilitation in the first month had greater improvements of AFE, PFE, and IR (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Immediate self-rehabilitation after open Latarjet procedures enabled recovery of preoperative shoulder mobility at 3 months. Patients who did not adhere to immediate self-rehabilitation had more pain and less improvement in mobility. Furthermore, immediate self-rehabilitation was found to be independently associated with better recovery and did not cause any adverse events.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.