Nonsurgical treatment of Acromioclavicular joint dislocations is well established. Most patients treated conservatively do well, however, some of them develop persistent symptoms. We have used two different surgical reconstruction techniques for Chronic ACJ dislocation stabilization. The study evaluates the effectiveness of a braided polyester prosthetic ligament and modified Weaver-Dunn reconstruction methods. 55 patients (mean age 42) with Chronic Acromioclavicular joint dislocation were included in this study. They were treated either by a modified Weaver-Dunn method or a braided polyester prosthetic ligament. Patients were assessed using Oxford shoulder score preoperatively and a minimum of 12 months postoperatively.Background
Methods
The Constant Score (CS) and the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) are shoulder scoring systems routinely used in the UK. Patients with Acromio-Clavicular Joint (ACJ) and Sterno-Clavicular Joint (SCJ) injuries and those with clavicle fractures tend to be younger and more active than those with other shoulder pathologies. While the CS takes into account the recreational outcomes for such patients the weighting is very small. We developed the Nottingham Clavicle Score (NCS) specifically for this group of patients. We recruited 70 patients into a cohort study in which pre-operative and 6 month post-operative evaluations of outcome were reviewed using the CS, the OSS the Imatani Score (IS) and the EQ-5D scores which were compared with the NCS. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Reproducibility of the NCS was assessed using the test/re-test method. Each of the 10 items of the NCS was evaluated for their sensitivity and contribution to the total score of 100. Validity was examined by correlations between the NCS and the CS, OSS, IS and EQ-5D scores pre-operatively and post-operatively.Introduction
Methods
