Aims. To discover how the management of traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation in the young patient (17-25) has changed, if at all, over the past six years. Methods. The same postal questionnaire was sent in 2002 and 2009 to 164 shoulder surgeons. Questions were asked about initial reduction, investigation undertaken, timing of surgery, preferred stabilisation procedure, period of immobilisation and rehabilitation programme instigated in first-time and recurrent traumatic dislocators. Summary of Results. Response rate - 92% (2009), 83% (2002). The most likely management of a young traumatic shoulder dislocation:. Reduction under sedation in A&E by A&E doctor (80%). Apart from X-ray, no investigations are performed (80%). Immobilisation for 3 weeks, followed by physiotherapy (82%). 68% would consider stabilisation surgery for first time dislocators (especially professional sportsmen) compared to 35% (2002). Of them, nearly 90% would perform an arthroscopic stabilisation vs. 57.5% (2002). For recurrent dislocators:. 75% would consider stabilisation after a second dislocation. 85% would investigate prior to surgery, choice of investigation being MR arthrogram (52%), compared to 50% (2002). 77% would perform arthroscopic stabilisation vs. 18% (2002), commonest procedure-arthroscopic Bankart repair using biodegradable bone anchors (62% 2009 vs. 27% in 2002). Immobilisation for 3 weeks, full range of motion 1-2 months and return to contact sports 6 - 12 months. Conclusion. There has been a remarkable change in practice compared to the previous survey. A significant proportion of Orthopaedic Surgeons would consider stabilisation in young first-time dislocators instead of conservative management. Arthroscopic stabilisation is now the preferred technique compared to open stabilisation whenever possible. Surgeons are using more investigations prior to listing the patient for surgery, namely the MR arthrogram. There is also an increased use of bio-degradable anchors as compared to metallic bone anchors in 2002

Background:. A shoulder dislocation is defined as chronic when it has been unreduced for more than one week. Chronic anterior shoulder dislocations are commonly encountered in Kwazulu-Natal for various reasons. Different surgical options exist to treat chronic anterior shoulder dislocations. However the outcome of surgically treated chronic shoulder dislocations has not been favourable in all studies. Methods:. We report on a combined case series of chronic anterior shoulder dislocations previously treated at Edendale Hospital (EDH), Pietermaritzburg and Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH), Durban. Patients were identified retrospectively using departmental databases and their case files were retrieved. Patient demographics, duration of dislocation, mechanism of injury and reason for delayed treatment were recorded. When available, X-rays, CT scans and MRI scans were retrieved to identify associated bony and soft tissue pathology. Surgical outcome was assessed using range of movement (ROM), change in pain severity, patient satisfaction, as well as Oxford Shoulder Instability Score (OIS) and Rowe and Zarins score. Post-operative complications including redislocations were also identified. Results:. Twenty-six patients with chronic anterior shoulder dislocations were surgically treated. The average duration of dislocation was 9 months (range 2 weeks to 7 years). The most common reason for chronicity was delayed presentation to clinic or hospital (9 patients). A Hill Sachs lesion was present in 20 patients, and a pseudo-glenoid was often encountered in dislocations present for more than 4 weeks (14 of 23 patients). Three supraspinatus ruptures and 4 biceps tears were encountered while neurological injury was uncommon (2 patients). Surgical treatment included open reduction (1 patient), open reduction and Latarjet (15 patients), hemi-arthroplasty (2 patients), hemi-arthroplasty and Latarjet (3 patients) and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (5 patients). Eighteen patients were available for follow-up. Most patients (16 out of 18 patients) were satisfied with their outcome. This was due to improvement in pain. Regardless of the type of surgery done, post-operative range of motion and surgical outcome scores were generally poor. Two patients were unsatisfied, due to redislocations. Conclusion:. Surgical treatment of chronic anterior shoulder dislocations resulted in satisfactory pain relief but marginal improvement in range of motion and overall shoulder function

The traditional treatment for a primary anterior shoulder dislocation has been immobilisation in a sling with the arm in adduction and internal rotation. The recurrence rates after the initial traumatic event range from 20% to 94%. However, recent results have suggested that recurrent instability after primary shoulder dislocation may be reduced with immobilisation in external rotation. Since then, controversy exists regarding the position of immobilisation following these injuries. The objective of the present study was to compare immobilisation in internal and external rotation after a primary anterior shoulder dislocation. Fifty patients presenting to our fracture clinic with a primary traumatic anterior dislocation of the shoulder were randomly assigned to treatment with immobilisation in either internal rotation (IR; 25 patients) or external rotation (ER; 25 patients) for three weeks. In addition of a two-years clinical follow-up, patients underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the shoulder with intra-articular contrast within four days following the traumatic event, and then at three months of follow-up. The primary outcome was a recurrent dislocation within 24 months of follow-up. The secondary outcome was the healing rate of the labral lesion seen on MRI (if present) within each immobilisation group. The follow-up rate after two years was 92% (23 of 25) in the IR group and 96% (24 of 25) in the ER group. The recurrence rate in the IR group (11 of 23; 47.8%) was higher than that in the ER group (7 of 24; 29.2%) but the difference did not reach statistical significance (p=0.188). However, in the subgroup of patients aged 20–40 years, the recurrence rate was significantly lower in the ER group (3 of 17; 6.4%) than that in the IR group (9 of 18; 50%, p<0,01). In the subgroup of patients with a labral lesion present on the initial MRI, the healing rate of the lesion was 46.2% (6 of 13) in the IR group and 60% (6 of 10) in the ER group (p=0.680). Overall, the recurrence rate among those who showed healing of the labrum (regardless of the immobilisation group) was 8.3% (1 of 12), but patients who did not healed their labrum had a recurrence rate of 45.5% (5 of 11; p=0.069). This study suggests that immobilisation in ER reduces the risk of recurrence after a primary anterior shoulder dislocation in patients aged between 20 and 40 years. At two years follow-up, the recurrence rate is lower in patients who demonstrated a healed labrum at three months, regardless of the position of immobilisation. Future studies are required in order to identify factors that can improve healing of the damaged labrum following a traumatic dislocation of the shoulder

The Royal Marines regularly deploy to Norway to conduct Cold Weather, Arctic and Mountain Warfare training. A total of 1200 personnel deployed to Norway in 2010 over a 14-week period. Patients, whose injuries prevented them from continuing training, were returned to the UK via AEROMED. The aim of this investigation was to describe the epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries during cold weather training. All data on personnel returned to the UK was prospectively collected and basic epidemiology recorded. 53 patients (incidence 44/1,000 personnel) were returned to the UK via AEROMED. 20/53 (38%) of cases were musculoskeletal injuries (incidence 17/1000 personnel). 15/20 musculoskeletal injuries were sustained while conducting ski training (incidence 13/1,000): 4/20 were non-alcohol related injuries, 1/20 was related to alcohol consumption off duty. Injuries sustained whilst skiing: 5/15 sustained anterior shoulders dislocation, 5/15 Grade 1-3 MCL/LCL tears, 2/15 sustained ACJ injuries, 1/15 crush fracture T11/T12, 1/15 tibial plateau fracture and 1/15 significant ankle sprain. Non-Training injuries: 1 anterior shoulder dislocation, 1 distal radial fracture, 1 olecranon fracture, 1 Scaphoid Fracture and one 5th metatarsal fracture. 60% of injuries were upper limb injuries. The most common injury was anterior shoulder dislocation 6/20 (Incidence 5/1000). Our results suggest that cold weather warfare training has a high injury rate requiring evacuation: 4% of all people deployed will require AEROMED evacuation, and 2% have musculoskeletal injuries. Ski training causes the majority of injuries, possibly due to the rapid transition from non-skier to skiing with a bergen and weapon. Military Orthopaedic and rehabilitation units supporting the Royal Marines, should expect sudden increases in referrals when large scale cold weather warfare training is being conducted. Further research is required to see if musculoskeletal injury rates can be decreased in cold weather warfare training

Purpose. The presence of a Hill-Sachs lesion is a major contributor to failure of surgical intervention following anterior shoulder dislocation. The relationship between lesion size, measured on pre-operative MRI, and risk of recurrent instability after surgery has not previously been defined. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the size of Hill-Sachs lesions on pre-op MRI would be greater among patients who failed soft tissue stabilization when compared to patients who did not fail. We also hypothesized that the existence of a glenoid lesion would lead to failure with smaller Hill-Sachs lesions. Method. Nested case-control analysis of 114 patients was performed to evaluate incidence of failure after soft tissue stabilization. Successful follow-up of at least 24 months was made with 91 patients (80%). Patients with recurrent instability after surgery were compared to randomly selected age and sex matched controls in a 1:1 ratio. Pre-operative sagittal and axial MRI series were analyzed for presence of Hill-Sachs lesions, and maximum edge-to-edge length and depth as well as location of the lesion related to the bicipital groove (axial) and humeral shaft (sagittal) were measured. Results. Of 91 patients included in analysis, 77 (84.6%) had identifiable Hill-Sachs lesions. 32 patients (35.2%) suffered from failure of soft tissue stabilization (redislocation 22.0%; subjective instability 13.2%). Ten of these patients (11.0%) underwent further surgery. When comparing the age and sex matched failure and control groups, statistically significant differences in unadjusted data were found for axial edge-to-edge length (p = 0.01), axial depth (p = 0.01), and sagittal edge-to-edge length (p = 0.04), with larger sized lesions found in the failure group (Figure 1). Differences trended towards significant for sagittal depth and angle from the bicipital groove. Conclusion. In this retrospective case-control study, humeral head defect size was positively correlated with recurrent instability after soft-tissue stabilization. Larger Hill-Sachs lesions, as measured on pre-op MRI, were found in patients who failure surgical intervention when compared to patients who did not fail. These data and future studies may help determine pre-operative clinical guidelines for the treatment of anterior shoulder dislocation