Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the results of open Bankart repair versus those of modified Bristow operation in patients with recurrent anterior dislocations of the shoulder, the last of which was caused by a minor trauma.  

Materials and Methods: This study included 38 patients (34 (89.5%) male and 4 (10.5%) female) who presented recurrent dislocation of the shoulders with capsular laxity and who underwent an open Bankart repair or a modified Bristow operation. The mean age of the patients was 29.6 years (range, 17-60 years). The mean follow-up period was 5.5 years (range, 35 months to 9 years). A total of 25 patients (65.8%) underwent an open Bankart repair, whereas 13 (34.2%) underwent a modified Bristow operation. The treatment results were assessed using the Rowe score for instability. 

Results: Of the 38 shoulders assessed, 24 (63.1%) were right shoulders and 14 (36.9%) were left shoulders. Furthermore, 26 (68.4%) were the dominant shoulders of the patients, and 12 (31.6%) were the non-dominant shoulders. The mean time from the first dislocation was 3.8 years (range, 10 months to 11 years). The age at which the first shoulder dislocation occurred was 20 years or younger in 7 cases (18.4%), 21-30 years in 22 cases (57.9%), 31-40 years in 6 cases (15.8%) and 41 or older in 3 cases (7.9%). The patients had experienced 4-10 recurrent dislocations in 15 cases (39.5%), 10-20 recurrent dislocations in 10 cases (26.3%) and 20 or more recurrent dislocations in 13 cases (34.2%). The mean Rowe score was 85.6 following open Bankart repair and 81.9 following modified Bristow. No significant difference was observed between these good and excellent Rowe scores following the open Bankart repair and the modified Bristow operation (p>0.05).  

Conclusion: Proper patient selection for the open Bankart repair and the modified Bristow operation is crucial. When the proper patients have been selected for these procedures, both produce satisfactory results for the treatment of patients with capsular laxities.