Arthroscopic Bankart repair for the acute anterior shoulder dislocation: systematic review and meta-analysis

The ideal treatment of acute anterior shoulder dislocation remains one of the topics that spark debate over the value of primary repair for the first-time anterior shoulder dislocation. The high rate of complications especially in young adults, such as recurrent instability, residual pain, and inability to return to sports, has led to the quest for an ideal management of such injuries.

In this meta-analysis, we compare between the immediate arthroscopic repair and conservative treatment of primary anterior shoulder dislocation as well as arthroscopic reconstruction of recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation. Outcome measures were failure rate (dislocation, subluxation, and instability) and revision rates.

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched several database including PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.​gov through August 2017 to identify observational and experimental randomized controlled trials comparing the outcomes of immediate arthroscopic repair and conservative treatment of primary shoulder dislocations as well as arthroscopic reconstruction of recurrent dislocation. The primary outcome was failure rate, whereas, secondary outcomes were revision rate and functional outcomes.

Out of the 710 studies identified, 12 were eligible for meta-analysis. The estimated pooled failure rate was 13.7% (7.7%–19.6%), whereas, the pooled revision rate was 7.1% (3.8%–10.4%) in immediate arthroscopic repair of primary shoulder dislocation. The odd ratio (OR) of failure and revision rates were significantly lower in arthroscopic repair of primary shoulder dislocation compared to conservative treatment (OR 0.103, 95% CI [0.052, 0.201]), (OR 0.217, 95% CI [0.078, 0.607]), respectively. The odd ratio (OD) of failure and revision rates were lower in arthroscopic repair of primary shoulder dislocation compared to arthroscopic reconstruction of the recurrent shoulder dislocation; however, the difference was statistically insignificant (OR 0.423, 95% CI [0.117, 1.522]) and (OR 0.358, 95% CI [0.044, 2.920]) respectively.

The outcome of immediate arthroscopic repair of primary anterior shoulder dislocation is superior and encouraging with significant reduction in failure and revision rates compared to conservative treatment. Nevertheless, the failure and revision rates are statistically insignificant compared to arthroscopic reconstruction of recurrent dislocation. Hence, there is evidence to support immediate arthroscopic repair option for primary anterior shoulder dislocations over conservative treatment in young active patients, in order to reduce the risk of failure and revision rates. However, the evidence is inconclusive compared to arthroscopic reconstruction of recurrent dislocation.