Arthroscopic anatomic repair of Bankart lesion in rugby players

Recent studies have reported equivalent outcomes of arthroscopic and open shoulder stabilization. However, surgical strategy for shoulder instability is a challenging and controversial problem for surgeons that have to treat collision sport athletes. In fact, only few studies support the arthroscopic surgery for this group of patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome of arthroscopic stabilization in a homogenous population of professional young athletes practicing in high-level collision sport. We treated 22 consecutive professional rugby players, with a mean age of 23.6 years, affected by traumatic anterior shoulder instability. All patients underwent arthroscopic Bankart repair with bone suture-anchors. Exclusion criteria were: failed previous shoulder surgery, atraumatic, multidirectional or posterior instability, bone defects greater than 20% of the anterior-inferior glenoid, engaging Hill-Sachs, rotator cuff tears, capsular-ligament avulsion on the humeral side (HAGL). Patients were evaluated according to Constant score, Rowe score and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for discomfort and handicap. The mean follow-up was 40.7 months (range, 6 to 87 months). All patients except one were able to return at the same previous sports level at 5 to 6 months postoperatively. Re-dislocation occurred in 3 players for high impact trauma during competition or training. Our results confirm that, also in the collision sport patients, anatomic arthroscopic Bankart repair is a good option for the treatment of traumatic anterior instability without associated lesions. .