Results and complications of head-preserving techniques in chronic neglected shoulder dislocation: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Humeral head-preserving procedures may be needed for chronic neglected shoulder dislocation because the presenting age of the patient is often reported to be less than 45 years. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the results of the various head-preserving procedures for chronic anterior dislocation (CAD) and chronic posterior dislocation (CPD). This review also aimed to evaluate the results of conservative neglect for CAD.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library databases were queried for studies that reported on results of head-preserving procedures for CAD or CPD and for studies that reported on the results of conservative neglect for CAD. Case reports, review articles, acute dislocations, and fracture-dislocations were excluded. The results of the different techniques were pooled for further evaluation.

Results: Seventeen studies were selected for qualitative analysis. These were further subdivided into 9 studies for the CAD group and 11 studies for the CPD group. In the CAD intervention group, 53 shoulders in 7 studies were managed by 5 different head-preserving techniques. The choice of procedure to stabilize the shoulder after open reduction varied between coracoid transfer, capsulolabral repair, remplissage, and Putti-Platt procedure and acromiohumeral K-wire fixation. High resubluxation rates and early arthrosis were reported after open reduction techniques for CAD. In the CAD conservative group, 8 shoulders in 2 studies were managed by conservative methods. In the CPD group, the 2 most common techniques, McLaughlin or modified McLaughlin and bone grafting, were used to treat 74 shoulders in 7 studies and showed good functional outcomes.

Conclusion: The choice of open reduction and stabilization technique for CAD was highly variable between the different studies and led to a wide variation in the reported outcomes with a high number of complications such as resubluxation and early arthrosis. The conservative treatment of CAD led to poor functional results. The choice of treatment for CPD was mostly between 2 techniques-McLaughlin and modified McLaughlin reconstruction or the bone graft reconstruction-and they consistently led to good functional outcomes with less complications.

Keywords: Chronic anterior dislocation; Latarjet procedure; McLaughlin reconstruction; chronic posterior dislocation; neglected dislocation; open reduction of shoulder dislocation.