Purpose: A retrospective long-term study was carried out to determine whether there was any correlation between the clinical motion of the acromioclavicular joint evaluated by a test we set up using 90° of abduction and 0° of external rotation against resistance [90°/0°RTest] and the cross arm test (compared to the healthy side) and full return to everyday activities after surgical repair.
Methods: A clinical and radiographic evaluation was carried out on 51/80 subjects at a 5.4-year mean follow-up, treated for acromioclavicular joint dislocation with an extra-articular artificial loop, between 2000 and 2006.
Results: The 25 subjects with ossifications obtained a normal acromioclavicular joint motion, on both the horizontal and vertical planes. There was a correlation between the normal motion of the reconstructed acromioclavicular joint (compared to the healthy side) in these 25 patients and full clinical recovery, whilst there was no correlation between the Constant score, the simple shoulder test, the radiographic evaluation on one hand and the clinical motion of the joint on the other. Two patients had recurrent dislocation. Three had mobilization of the screws without reduction loss, or negative clinical outcome.
Conclusions: A postoperative radiographic evaluation should be correlated with a clinical evaluation of the acromioclavicular joint motion (normal, hypermobile, unstable). Normal acromioclavicular joint motion was observed in subjects who developed significant ossifications. The study shows that the clinical evaluation of acromioclavicular joint motion is a simple and trustworthy method to assess the clinical result of a surgical repair.
Level of evidence: Diagnostic study investigating a diagnostic test, Level III.