Dynamic brace is a good option to treat rst anterior shoulder dislocation in season

Purpose We evaluate the ability of in-season competitive athletes to return to competition after an anterior shoulder instability treated conservatively with a new dynamic brace combined with a speci c rehabilitation program. Methods Twenty soccer players a ected by traumatic ante- rior shoulder dislocation have been enrolled in the “Foot- baller In Season Fast Rehab” project during 2 consecutive football seasons. We excluded patients a ected by rotator cu tears and the bony defect over 25%. All the players have been treated the day after the rst dislocation with a new dynamic brace used until the end of the second month after the rst glenohumeral dislocation combined with a speci c rehab protocol. Athletes were evaluated for the time neces- sary to completely resume sport activities, to complete the season, and for the recurrence of dislocation. Results All the athletes enrolled in this study were able to come back on the ground in approximately 40 days after the dislocation except 2 of them. Only two athletes claimed a slight discomfort at the return to play. One athlete had a trau- matic relapse of the instability, 50 days after the dislocation. Another athlete claimed to have had a subluxation during a training session 45 days after the dislocation. 90% of the * E. Ceccarelli enricoceccarelli@hotmail.com athletes were able to end the season without any shoulder discomfort. Conclusions The dynamic brace combined to the rehabili- tation protocol represents the solution that allows a quick start of resumption of training while maintaining a stable pain-free shoulder.