Purpose of the study: Posterior fracture-impaction of the humeral head (Hill-Sachs defect or Malgainge notch) is a well-known factor of failure for arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation procedures. Recently, Wolf proposed arthroscopic posterior capsulodesis and tenodesis of the infraspinatus, or what we call in French Hill-Sachs Remplissage (filling). We hypothesised that capsule and tendon healing within the bony defect could explain the efficacy of this arthroscopic technique.

Material and methods: Prospective clinical study of a continuous series. Inclusion criteria:

recurrent anterior instability (dislocation or subluxation);

Exclusion criteria:

associated bone loss in the glenoid;

Twenty shoulders (20 patients) met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and underwent Hill-Sachs remplissage. Four orthopaedic surgeons evaluated independently the soft tissue healing in the humeral defect. Mann-Whitney analysis was used to search for a link between rate of healing and clinical outcome.

Results: Filling of the humeral defect reached 75 to 100% in 16 patients (80%°; it was 50–75% in 4 patients. Healing was never noted less than 50%. The short-term clinical outcome (mean follow-up 11.4 months, range 6–32) showed an excellent results as assessed by the Constant score (mean 92±8.9 points) and the Walch-Duplay score (91 points). The subjective shoulder value (SSV) was 50% preoperatively and 89% at last follow-up. There were no cases of recurrent instability. This study was unable to establish a relationship between minor healing and less favourable clinical outcome.

Discussion: This study confirmed our hypothesis that arthroscopic Hill-Sachs remplissage provides a high rate of significant healing in a majority of patients. Capsule and tendon healing in the humeral defect yields significant shoulder stability via at least two mechanisms:

prevention of defect engagement on the anterior border of the glenoid and

Further mid- and long-term results will be needed to establish a confirmed correlation between healing and clinical outcome.

Purpose: The “Hill-Sachs Remplissage” (HSR) is a procedure used in the treatment of anterior shoulder instability associated with an engaging Hill-Sachs (HS) defect. It consists of an arthroscopic capsulotenodesis of the posterior capsule and infraspinatus tendon within the defect. There is currently no evidence that the capsule and tendon heal in the humeral bone defect. Our hypotheses were

that the capsulotenodesis heals in the HS defect and fills at least 50% of its area; and,

Method: Prospective clinical study. Inclusion criteria:

recurrent anterior shoulder instability;

Exclusion criteria:

glenoid bone loss;

Twenty-nine patients underwent an arthroscopic Bankart repair plus HSR. Clinical assessment at a mean follow up of 13.1 months (range 6 to 32 months) consisted of a structured interview and detailed physical examination including range of motion compare to the contralateral shoulder and instability signs. Range of motion was analyzed in two groups according to length of follow-up, Group 1 with less than 12 months follow-up (14 patients); and Group 2 with greater than 12 months follow-up (15 patients). Either a CT arthrogram (25 patients) or an Arthro-MRI (2 patient) was performed at a minimum of six months postoperatively. Four orthopaedic surgeons analyzed the images independently to determine the percentage of healing of the capsulotenodesis.

Results: There was no recurrence of instability at the latest follow-up. There was no statistically significant deficit in forward elevation in either group. Group 1 patients had statistically significant mean deficits as compared to the contralateral side of 15 degrees of external rotation in adduction (ER1), 15 degrees of external rotation at 90 degrees of abduction (ER2), and 1.1 points of internal rotation in adduction according to the Constant score system (ER1). Group 2 patients had statistically significant mean deficits of 4 degrees of ER1 and 11 degrees of ER2, with no significant difference in IR1. There was healing of the capsulotenodesis within the bone defect in all twenty-seven patients. The bone defect was filled more than 75% of its surface in 22 of 29 patients (76%). The remaining seven had between 50 and 75% filling (24%). There was no defect filling of less than 50% in this study.

Conclusion: We demonstrated greater than 50% HS defect filling in all patients in our series after an arthroscopic “Hill-Sachs Remplissage” and filling > 75% in 22 of 29 (76%). Modest deficits of external rotation were demonstrated at greater than 12 months follow-up. While these results suggest that the technical goal of HS defect filling is achievable, longer term studies are necessary to establish whether there is an association between the rate of healing, the functional impairment of external rotation and clinical outcomes.