Surgical treatment of acute acromioclavicular joint dislocations: hook plate versus minimally invasive reconstruction

This study was performed to compare the clinical results of a minimally invasive technique for acute acromioclavicular (AC) joint dislocation repair with the traditional hook plate fixation.

Forty-four patients with an acute (within 2 weeks after trauma) complete AC joint separation (35 male, nine female; median age 36.2 years, range 18–56) underwent surgical repair with either a minimally invasive AC joint repair or a conventional hook plate. Functional outcome was evaluated using the Constant-Murley Score (CMS), the TAFT score and the AC joint instability score (ACJI). Radiographic evaluation was performed with bilateral anterior–posterior (a.p.) stress and Alexander views.

All patients were available after a median follow-up of 32 months (range 24–51). There were no significant differences in the mean CMS, Taft score and the ACJI between the two groups. The radiological assessment revealed no significant difference in the coracoclavicular distance. In both groups, a slight loss of reduction was observed. Periarticular ossification was seen in 11 patients of the minimally invasive AC joint repair and eight patients of the hook plate group but this did not affect the final outcome. Hook plates were removed after a median interval of 11.9 weeks (range 10–13).

Good clinical results can be achieved with both minimally invasive AC joint repair and hook plate fixation. However, in the hook plate group a second operation is mandatory for plate removal.

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