Shoulder Specialties Arthroscopic Shoulder Stabilization


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 patient?

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Arthroscopic Shoulder Stabilization
 Overview

Shoulder instability occurs when the ball slips out of the socket during activity. This often leads to damage of the “bumper” or labrum and the surrounding soft tissue “envelope” or capsule. Arthroscopic stabilization is a surgical technique that can improve stability to reduce pain and increase function.


Why Arthroscopic Shoulder Stabilization
?

The goal of arthroscopic shoulder stabilization is to restore the properties of the damaged shoulder labrum and capsule to improve shoulder stability and function. Depending on the number of events (i.e. dislocations, subluxations) and direction of instability (i.e. anterior, posterior, multidirectional), anatomic repair is performed to stabilize the ball on the socket.


Who Should Have Arthroscopic Shoulder Stabilization
?

Arthroscopic shoulder stabilization is performed for active patients with symptoms of pain/instability following episode(s) of recurrent shoulder dislocation or subluxation. Athletes with “Bankart” lesions following first time anterior (i.e. out the front) shoulder dislocation may consider surgery. Patients with posterior labral tears may require surgery to reduce symptoms with loading and cross arm maneuvers (i.e. football lineman). Rarely, arthroscopic stabilization is performed for patients with multidirectional instability who have failed conservative treatment.


Some patients with recurrent shoulder instability have extensive bone loss on the ball or socket side of the joint (or both) and are no longer candidates for arthroscopic repair. They may require open surgical procedures (i.e. Latarjet, distal tibial allograft, osteochondral allograft to Hill-Sachs defect) to solve this challenging problem.

What Can I Expect From Arthroscopic Shoulder Stabilization
?

Arthroscopic shoulder stabilization is an outpatient procedures that takes approximately 1-2 hours to perform. Patients have an initial period of protection in a sling for 4-6 weeks. Post-operative rehabilitation is performed 2-3x/week for several months. Return to work or sport is INDIVIDUALIZED and is based on minimum time from surgery (~4-6months) and, more importantly, functional progression with rehabilitation
.