Structural white matter and functional connectivity alterations in patients with shoulder apprehension

Editorial Commentary: Shoulder Arthroscopic Dynamic Anterior Stabilization Is Effective for Anteroinferior Shoulder Instability With Limited Anterior Bone Loss

Shoulder dynamic anterior stabilization (DAS) is an efficient and well-established glenohumeral stabilization technique, offering an arthroscopic alternative to Latarjet and glenoid reconstruction with distal tibial allograft or the iliac crest autograft. DAS is essentially an augmented Bankart procedure and can be performed using transfer of either the long head of the biceps tendon or the conjoined tendon. Both result in similar and acceptable rates of recurrences, complications, return to sport, and subjective shoulder function. However, the effectiveness of Bankart repair on shoulder stability decreases significantly over time, so long-term follow-up evaluations of DAS are required. The best indication for DAS may be anteroinferior shoulder instability with limited anterior bone loss.

Is sling immobilization necessary after open Latarjet surgery for anterior shoulder instability? A randomized control trial

BACKGROUND

There is a current lack of knowledge regarding optimal rehabilitation and duration of sling immobilization after an open Latarjet procedure. A shift towards immediate self-rehabilitation protocols in shoulder surgery is observed to avoid postoperative stiffness and fasten return to sport. Avoiding sling immobilization could further simplify rehabilitation and provide an even faster return to activities of daily living and enhance patient satisfaction.

METHODS

This study is a single-center, randomized control trial. Sixty-eight patients will be instructed with the same standardized immediate postoperative self-rehabilitation protocol. Patients will be allocated 1:1 between a sling immobilization group for the first three postoperative weeks and no sling group without postoperative immobilization. The primary endpoint will be functional outcome at 6 months postoperative evaluated by the disease-specific Rowe score. Secondary endpoints will include baseline, 1.5-, 6-, and 12-month single assessment numeric evaluation (SANE) of instability score and visual analog pain scale (VAS). At the 6-month time point, graft bony union and position will be assessed by computed tomography. Motion capture technology will evaluate the baseline and 6-month postoperative range of motion. Finally, time to return to work and sport during the first postoperative year, along with patient satisfaction at one postoperative year, will also be recorded.

DISCUSSION

This study will allow further insights into the optimal rehabilitation protocol after open Latarjet surgery and enhance patient care by helping identify rehabilitation and coracoid graft-related factors influencing functional outcomes, bony union, range of motion, and patient satisfaction.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The protocol was approved by the ethical committee board (CCER 2019-02,469) in April 2020 and by ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04479397 ) in July 2020.

Disruption of white matter integrity and its relationship with cognitive function in non-severe traumatic brain injury

Background

Impairment in cognitive function is a recognized outcome of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the degree of impairment has variable relationship with TBI severity and time post injury. The underlying pathology is often due to diffuse axonal injury that has been found even in mild TBI. In this study, we examine the state of white matter putative connectivity in patients with non-severe TBI in the subacute phase, i.e., within 10 weeks of injury and determine its relationship with neuropsychological scores.

Methods

We conducted a case-control prospective study involving 11 male adult patients with non-severe TBI and an age-matched control group of 11 adult male volunteers. Diffusion MRI scanning and neuropsychological tests were administered within 10 weeks post injury. The difference in fractional anisotropy (FA) values between the patient and control groups was examined using tract-based spatial statistics. The FA values that were significantly different between patients and controls were then correlated with neuropsychological tests in the patient group.

Results

Several clusters with peak voxels of significant FA reductions (p < 0.05) in the white matter skeleton were seen in patients compared to the control group. These clusters were located in the superior fronto-occipital fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, and cingulum, as well as white matter fibers in the area of genu of corpus callosum, anterior corona radiata, superior corona radiata, anterior thalamic radiation and part of inferior frontal gyrus. Mean global FA magnitude correlated significantly with MAVLT immediate recall scores while matrix reasoning scores correlated positively with FA values in the area of right superior fronto-occipital fasciculus and left anterior corona radiata.

Conclusion

The non-severe TBI patients had abnormally reduced FA values in multiple regions compared to controls that correlated with several measures of executive function during the sub-acute phase of TBI.

Functional cortical changes associated with shoulder instability - a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Glenohumeral joint instability is associated with structural deficits and/or alterations in sensory and motor processing; however, a proportion of patients with glenohumeral joint instability fail to respond to surgical and rehabilitative measures. This systematic review aimed to establish if functional cortical changes occur in patients with glenohumeral joint instability.

METHODS

AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Medline, PEDro, Pubmed, PsychINFO and Scopus were searched from inception to 17 March 2021. Randomised controlled trials and non-randomised trials were included and quality was appraised using the Downs and Black tool.

RESULTS

One thousand two hundred seventy-nine records were identified of which five were included in the review. All studies showed altered cortical function when comparing instability patients with healthy controls and included areas associated with higher cortical functions.

DISCUSSION

The findings of this systematic review offer some insight as to why interventions addressing peripheral pathoanatomical factors in patients with glenohumeral joint instability may fail in some cases due to functional cortical changes. However, data are of moderate to high risk of bias. Further high-quality research is required to ascertain the degree of functional cortical changes associated with the type and duration of glenohumeral joint instability.

Capsulolabral Reconstruction During the Open Latarjet Procedure

Surgical treatment of anterior glenohumeral joint instability can be challenging and carries the inherent risk of recurrent instability, dislocation arthropathy, and postoperative loss of external rotation. In the current manuscript, a technique for combined reconstruction of anterior labrum and capsule, with concomitant reduction of the humeral head during anterior capsule reconstruction in open Latarjet procedure, is presented. Analogous to other techniques, the coracoid graft is fixed on the anteroinferior part of the glenoid between 3 and 5 o'clock. However, for this technique, reattachment of the labrum is performed between the native glenoid and the bone graft. Additionally, during the reconstruction of the anterior capsule on the coracoacromial ligament, while the operated arm is held in external rotation to avoid the postoperative rotational deficit, the humeral head is reduced posteriorly in the center of the glenoid during adduction, slight anterior forward flexion, and a posterior lever push. By doing so, the inherent theoretical risks of persistent instability and dislocation arthropathy are believed to be decreased. Further studies are needed to clarify the long-term consequences of this surgical technique in the clinical setting.

A functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study of patients with Polar Type II/III complex shoulder instability

The pathophysiology of Stanmore Classification Polar type II/III shoulder instability is not well understood. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to measure brain activity in response to forward flexion and abduction in 16 patients with Polar Type II/III shoulder instability and 16 age-matched controls. When a cluster level correction was applied patients showed significantly greater brain activity than controls in primary motor cortex (BA4), supramarginal gyrus (BA40), inferior frontal gyrus (BA44), precentral gyrus (BA6) and middle frontal gyrus (BA6): the latter region is considered premotor cortex. Using voxel level correction within these five regions a unique activation was found in the primary motor cortex (BA4) at MNI coordinates -38 -26 56. Activation was greater in controls compared to patients in the parahippocampal gyrus (BA27) and perirhinal cortex (BA36). These findings show, for the first time, neural differences in patients with complex shoulder instability, and suggest that patients are in some sense working harder or differently to maintain shoulder stability, with brain activity similar to early stage motor sequence learning. It will help to understand the condition, design better therapies and improve treatment of this group; avoiding the common clinical misconception that their recurrent shoulder dislocations are a form of attention-seeking.

Bilateral shoulder proprioception deficit in unilateral anterior shoulder instability

HYPOTHESIS AND BACKGROUND

Proprioception is an important element of shoulder dynamic stability. It has been shown to be affected in cases of capsular or labral injuries of the glenohumeral joint. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate bilateral shoulder proprioception by active reproduction of joint position both in patients with post-traumatic recurrent unilateral shoulder instability and in normal healthy volunteers.

METHODS

We compared 41 patients, comprising 11 female and 30 male patients with an average age of 25.6 years (range, 18-39 years), with post-traumatic unilateral anterior shoulder instability with a control group of 27 healthy volunteers with no history of shoulder problems and with normal shoulder function during examination. All patients were examined using a high-accuracy computer-controlled electronic goniometer (Propriometer). The error of active reproduction of joint position (EARJP) was measured in abduction, flexion, external rotation, and internal rotation in both shoulders.

RESULTS

We observed a significant deficit in the EARJP in the unstable shoulders within the instability group. Surprisingly, similar results were recorded for the contralateral, unaffected shoulders within this group of patients compared with the control group. Joint acuity increased with higher elevation of the arm position.

CONCLUSION

Unilateral shoulder injuries, resulting in instability, affect proprioception in both shoulders, as demonstrated by an increased EARJP. This is the first report of unilateral shoulder instability coexisting with inferior proprioception in both shoulders.

Shoulder apprehension: A multifactorial approach

Shoulder apprehension is related to changes in functional cerebral networks induced by dislocations, peripheral neuromuscular lesions and persistent mechanical glenohumeral instability consisting of micro-motion.All the damage to the osseous and soft-tissue stabilizers of the shoulder, as well as neurologic impairment persisting even after stabilization, must be properly identified in order to offer the best possible treatment to the patient.There is growing evidence supporting the use of a global multimodal approach, involving, on the one hand, shoulder 'reafferentation', including proprioception, mirror therapy and even cognitive behavioural approaches, and, on the other hand, surgical stabilization techniques and traditional physical therapy in order to minimize persistent micro-motion, which may help brain healing. This combined management could improve return to sport and avoid dislocation arthropathy in the long term. Cite this article: EFORT Open Rev 2018;3:550-557. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.3.180007.

Dynamic Anterior Stabilization Using the Long Head of the Biceps for Anteroinferior Glenohumeral Instability

Anteroinferior glenohumeral instability can be treated by variants of the Bankart repair, remplissage, and the Latarjet procedure, although all options remain associated with complications, including recurrence, stiffness, persistent pain, apprehension, and dislocation arthropathy. The authors therefore thought of a concept of dynamic anterior stabilization to treat anteroinferior glenohumeral instability by transferring the long head of the biceps within a subscapularis split to the anterior glenoid margin, thereby creating a "sling effect" by using a conservative technique. A standard Bankart repair is then to re-establish the labral damper effect. The main benefit of the dynamic anterior stabilization procedure is that it grants the "sling effect," but is easier and safer than arthroscopic Latarjet. It does not require screws nor traction of the coracoid process, and should therefore reduce the risks of neurologic damage. Furthermore, the procedure can be performed with only 3 small incisions, because it does not require coracoid transfer, which eliminates risks of nerve dissection, graft overhang, and cortical resorption, hence reducing the probability for dislocation arthroplasty. Lastly, the pectoralis minor remains intact, which would avoid scapular dyskinesis.