The Open Bankart Repair for Traumatic Anterior Shoulder Instability in Teenage Athletes

Background:Traumatic anterior shoulder instability from recurrent dislocations or subluxations is a debilitating problem for the teenage athlete. The risk of recurrent instability is high in this adolescent population. We performed a retrospective case series analysis of adolescent athletes with recurrent instability treated with open Bankart repair and evaluated functional outcomes as well as redislocation rates.Methods:The retrospective study included 21 teenage patients with Bankart lesions and recurrent anterior shoulder instability. There were 19 males (90%) and 2 females (10%) with an average age of 16 years (range, 14 to 18 y). Patients were evaluated based on Rowe and UCLA shoulder scores, return to previous level of sport, external rotation, and recurrence.Results:The average number of anchors used to repair the Bankart lesion was 3 (range, 2 to 5). One patient was lost to follow-up at 6 months after surgery. The remaining 20 patients all had at least 2-year follow-up. The recurrent instability rate was zero. In total, 100% of patients had an excellent result based on an average Rowe score of 96.5 points of 100 points (a score of 90 to 100 is an excellent result). In total, 100% of patients had good/excellent result based on an average UCLA shoulder score of 34 of 35 (a score >27 is a good/excellent result). At final follow-up, 7 patients (34%) had lost an average of 11 degrees of external rotation (range, 5 to 20 degrees) on the injured shoulder with the arm at the side compared with the noninjured shoulder.Conclusions:Contact teenage athletes with recurrent anterior shoulder instability can be treated with open Bankart repair with a low recurrence, excellent functional shoulder outcomes, and return to sport. A small amount of external rotation may be lost with this technique. Care must be taken when considering this method with throwing athletes (ie, quarterback or pitcher). The open Bankart should remain a viable alternative for the adolescent population with recurrent anterior instability.Level of Evidence:Level IV.