Open Shoulder Stabilization for Instability: Anterior Labral Repair With Capsular Shift

The History and Evolution of the Open Labral Repair with Capsular Shift for Shoulder Instability

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The purpose of this review is to describe the evolution of the open labral repair with capsular shift, including the current role of this procedure in the treatment of shoulder instability.

RECENT FINDINGS

Currently, a subset of patients - high-level collision/contact sport athletes, patients with significant inferior or multi-directional instability, and individuals with failed arthroscopic Bankart repair without bone loss - may experience benefit from undergoing open Bankart repair with capsular shift. Surgeons performing open stabilization can benefit from instrumentation and anchors developed to assist with arthroscopic techniques. Understanding the history and evolution behind the procedure not only allows the surgeon to appreciate principles behind an arthroscopic approach, but also permits the utilization of an open approach when required by patient pathology and risk factors.

Arthroscopic capsular shift from inferior to superior has an exceptional safety profile and short-term outcomes

OBJECTIVES

Arthroscopic Bankart for anterior shoulder instability has a good safety profile but with a relatively high recurrence index. Open surgery has been used to decrease recurrence rates but with a higher complication rate. Arthroscopic capsular shift from inferior to superior (ACSIS) was designed to decrease the recurrence rates without the added morbidity of open surgery.

METHODS

An observational retrospective study was conducted to analyze perioperative complications and patient reported outcomes of patients treated with ACSIS to determine the safety profile of the procedure. The patients with anterior traumatic shoulder instability treated with ACSIS between January 2015 and December 2021 were included for the study. The analysis was conducted using SPSS (Version 27). The pre vs. postoperative Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index scores were compared using a paired sample t-test or Wilcoxon signed ranks test depending on the results of the normality test and Levene's test. The significance level was 0.05 in all analyses. Thirty-six patients were included in this study, the mean age of the population is 30.8 ​± ​11.4 years, with a male dominance of 86.1% (N ​= ​31), and a mean clinical follow-up of 2.7 ​± ​1.2 years.

RESULTS

No intraoperative complications, including bleeding or neurovascular injury, were noted. Additionally, no early postoperative complications, including infection or hospital readmission, were noted. During the follow-up, one patient (3%) had persistent apprehension. The mean Western Ontario Shoulder Instability index decreased from 66.6 ​± ​13.10% to 27.9 ​± ​22% postoperatively (P ​< ​0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

ACSIS procedure is safe and has good short-term outcomes with a low recurrence rate at 1-year minimum follow-up.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

3 (Observational study).

Anterior Shoulder Instability and Open Procedures: History, Indications, and Clinical Outcomes

The shoulder, being the most mobile joint in the human body, is often susceptible to dislocations and subluxations more so than other joints. As such, shoulder instability constitutes a common complaint among patients worldwide, especially those who are young, participate in contact sports, and have increased innate flexibility in their joints. Management options in the setting of instability vary between conservative and surgical options that aim to mitigate symptoms and allow return of function. Surgical options can be arthroscopic and open, with a general shift among surgeons towards utilizing arthroscopic surgery in the past several decades. Nevertheless, open procedures still play a role in managing shoulder instability patients, especially those with significant bone loss, recurrent instability, coexisting shoulder pathologies, and high risk of failure with arthroscopic surgery. In these clinical settings, open procedures, like the Latarjet procedure, open Bankart repair, glenoid bone augmentation using iliac crest autograft or distal tibial allograft, and salvage options like glenohumeral arthrodesis and arthroplasty may show good clinical outcomes and low recurrence rates. Each of these open procedures possesses its own set of advantages and disadvantages and entails a specific set of indications based on published literature. It is important to cater treatment options to the individual patient in order to optimize outcomes and reduce the risk of complications. Future research on open shoulder stabilization procedures should focus on the long-term outcomes of recently utilized procedures, investigate different graft options for procedures involving bone augmentation, and conduct additional comparative analyses in order to establish concrete surgical management guidelines.

Managing Shoulder Instability in the Overhead Athlete

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Shoulder instability in the overhead athlete is a difficult problem because of the balance between necessary laxity for athletic movements and stability of the joint. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the clinical evaluation of shoulder instability in the overhead athlete and present evidence-based management strategies for each subtype of shoulder instability, including novel techniques and outcomes.

RECENT FINDINGS

Recent investigation has shown that throwers and other overhead athletes are more likely to present with subtle subluxation events rather than discrete dislocations as their primary symptom. While overhead athletes with discrete anterior dislocation events are likely to begin with non-operative management, many progress on to surgical intervention. Surgical management of glenohumeral joint instability continues to pose challenges due to the potential for over-tensioning for the sake of stability at the expense of the adaptive laxity that often confers performance benefits in the overhead athlete. Novel, individualized, and sport/position specific approaches are needed to address this complex issue. The optimal management of shoulder instability in the overhead athlete continues to be a controversial topic due to the complex work-up, an increasing number of surgical options with varying indications, and low volume of high-quality studies comparing any of the treatment options. The Anterior Shoulder Instability International Consensus Group guidelines from February 2022 offer the most updated guidelines on work-up and management. Overall, high-quality randomized controlled trials are required to determine the optimal treatment for specific pathologies and aid in creating patient-centered management plans.

Open Stabilization Procedures of the Shoulder in the Athlete: Indications, Techniques, and Outcomes

Shoulder instability is a relatively common injury especially in the young athletic population and its surgical management continues to remain a controversial topic in sports medicine orthopedics. Anterior instability is the most common type encountered and is estimated to have an incidence rate of 0.08 per 1000 person-years in the general population; however, this figure is likely higher in the young athletic population. While in recent practice, arthroscopic surgery has become the new gold standard for management, reported failure rates as high as 26% and high recurrence rates in specific subpopulations such as young men in high collision sports have led to the consideration of alternative open procedures such as open Bankart repair, Latarjet, capsular shift, and glenoid bone grafting. These procedures may be preferred in specific patient subgroups such as young athletes involved in contact sports and those with Hill-Sachs defects and multidirectional instability, with postoperative recurrence rates of instability as low as 10%. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of different open surgical techniques in the management of shoulder instability and summarize patient outcomes including recurrence rates for shoulder instability, return to sport, range of motion (ROM), muscle strength, and complications either individually by procedure or in comparison with other techniques, with special focus on their impact in the athletic population.

Arthroscopic Anatomic Glenoid Repair Using Distal Tibial Allograft and an Inferior-to-Superior Capsular Shift

Traumatic anterior dislocation of the shoulder accounts for the vast majority of shoulder dislocations. Recurrence following initial traumatic dislocation is common, and the risk is increased by the presence of both bony and soft-tissue damage. Arthroscopic procedures have been described to address each of these etiologies individually but have not provided a technique to address bony and soft tissue pathology concurrently. This paper describes an all-arthroscopic, anatomic glenoid repair using distal tibial allograft with an inferior-to-superior capsular shift, addressing significant glenoid bone loss and capsular laxity with a single operation.

Arthroscopic Bankart repair with an individualized capsular shift restores physiological capsular volume in patients with anterior shoulder instability

PURPOSE

Capsular volume reduction in the context of anterior arthroscopic shoulder stabilization represents an important but uncontrolled parameter. The aim of this study was to analyse capsular volume reduction by arthroscopic Bankart repair with an individualized capsular shift in patients with and without ligamentous hyperlaxity compared to a control group.

METHODS

In the context of a prospective controlled study, intraoperative capsular volume measurements were performed in 32 patients with anterior shoulder instability before and after arthroscopic Bankart repair with an individualized capsular shift. The results were compared to those of a control group of 50 patients without instability. Physiological shoulder joint volumes were calculated and correlated with biometric parameters (sex, age, height, weight and BMI).

RESULTS

Patients with anterior shoulder instability showed a mean preinterventional capsular volume of 35.6 ± 10.6 mL, which was found to be significantly reduced to 19.3 ± 5.4 mL following arthroscopic Bankart repair with an individualized capsular shift (relative capsular volume reduction: 45.9 ± 21.9%; P < 0.01). Pre-interventional volumes were significantly greater in hyperlax than in non-hyperlax patients, while post-interventional volumes did not differ significantly. The average shoulder joint volume of the control group was 21.1 ± 7.0 mL, which was significantly correlated with sex, height and weight (P < 0.01). Postinterventional capsular volumes did not significantly differ from those of the controls (n.s.).

CONCLUSION

Arthroscopic Bankart repair with an individualized capsular shift enabled the restoration of physiological capsular volume conditions in hyperlax and non-hyperlax patients with anterior shoulder instability. Current findings allow for individual adjustment and intraoperative control of capsular volume reduction to avoid over- or under correction of the shoulder joint volume. Future clinical studies should evaluate, whether individualized approaches to arthroscopic shoulder stabilization are associated with superior clinical outcome.