Arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder. A general appraisal

Abstract

Arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder was performed on 439 patients over a 10-year period: these patients are reviewed after a minimum follow-up of one year. Diagnostic arthroscopy is known to be valuable and we have found that arthroscopic surgery also is safe and effective. It was useful in treating frozen shoulder, early osteoarthritis, isolated tears of the glenoid labrum and lesions of the biceps tendon. It was less useful in treating partial tears of the rotator cuff, tendonitis and severe osteoarthritis, and of little value in treating complete tears of the rotator cuff or in treating patients in whom previous operations on the rotator cuff had failed. It may prove to be a useful method of performing synovectomy in rheumatoid arthritis and of treating instability.

Outcome of Arthroscopic Débridement is Worse for Patients With Glenohumeral Arthritis of Both Sides of the Joint

“…Most experience reported in the literature supports arthroscopic débridement for early-stage arthritic changes in the shoulder. OgilvieHarris and Wiley [19] first reported on a series of 54 patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder débridement with 3-year followup. Two-thirds of their patients with mild degenerative disease achieved a successful result, while only one-third of those with moderate to severe disease had a good result.…”

“…Arthroscopic débridement of the glenohumeral joint is an expanding option in the treatment of shoulder arthritis. It improves pain and function, with the best results in those shoulders with mild to moderate arthritic changes [19,27]. However, the literature is not clear on whether the grade of the lesion influences outcome or whether the presence of a lesion on one versus both sides of the joint influences outcome.…”

Posterior shoulder instability in the athletic population: Variations in assessment, clinical outcomes, and return to sport

“…Concomitant injuries, such as SLAP and glenohumeral ligament complex lesions often missed during pre-operative evaluation may be identified during intraoperative arthroscopic assessment and can be addressed in the same operative setting [18,20] . Additionally, shoulder arthroscopy has been recognized as both a diagnostic and therapeutic technique with a low incidence 72 3 (14) 21 (100) 21 (100) 17 (89) 13 (68) Misamore et al [38] Ⅳ of complications [25] . Postoperatively, increased range of motion, shorter rehabilitation, and less pain and morbidity have been reported in arthroscopic procedures compared to more invasive techniques [24] .…”

Débridement of Small Partial-thickness Rotator Cuff Tears in Elite Overhead Throwers

“…However, most studies have looked at the general population and used rating scales that evaluate typical daily activities. Few studies focus specifically on overhead throwing athletes and the results in these studies have been more variable, especially in baseball players [1,2,4,28,30,31,36,39,40]. In addition, there has been increased debate between débridement and repair of partial-thickness rotator cuff tears.…”