For many years open treatment was considered the procedure of choice for surgical stabilization of a patient with shoulder dislocation. With this approach, an incision is made in the front of the shoulder and then the labrum and capsule are repaired to the bone. The downside of this approach is that it is quite invasive (which raises the risk of infection) and it is difficult to address other pathology in the shoulder.
There is a lot of variation in the rate of return to play after SLAP repair. Tears of the superior labrum or superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) are common in overhead athletes and can occur after trauma (falls or traction injuries). In overhead athletes, tears are thought to occur from the “peelback” mechanism where the superior labrum undergoes stress when the arm is placed in the throwing position or maximal abduction and external rotation.
Shoulder arthroscopy has been a major advancement in the treatment of shoulder conditions. Through the use a camera and small stab incisions, conditions in the shoulder can be clearly viewed and treated in a minimally invasive fashion.
Historically, it was recommended that shoulder dislocations should be treated with rehabilitation (therapy) alone unless a patient had multiple recurrent dislocations. However, several studies in the past decade have changed the approach to treatment....
Most people have heard of the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is group of 4 shoulder muscles (subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor) that surround the ball and socket (glenohumeral) joint (Figure 1). The rotator cuff helps the shoulder move and provides stability to the ball and socket joint.
