Ultrasonographic Assessment of Glenohumeral Joint Stability Immediately After Arthroscopic Bankart-Bristow Procedure

Jumpei Inoue; Tetsuya Takenaga; Atsushi Tsuchiya; Norio Okubo; Satoshi Takeuchi; Keishi Takaba; Masahiro Nozaki; Makoto Kobayashi; Hiroaki Fukushima; Jiro Kato; Hideki Murakami; Masahito Yoshida

doi:10.1177/23259671221131600

Ultrasonographic Assessment of Glenohumeral Joint Stability Immediately After Arthroscopic Bankart-Bristow Procedure

Orthop J Sports Med. 2022 Nov 8;10(11):23259671221131600. doi: 10.1177/23259671221131600. eCollection 2022 Nov.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Science, Nagoya, Japan.
² Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Meitetsu Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
³ Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine Center, Meitetsu Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.
⁴ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Toyohashi Medical Center, Toyohashi, Japan.
⁵ Department of Musculoskeletal Sports Medicine, Research and Innovation, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Science, Nagoya, Japan.

Abstract

Background: The changes in glenohumeral joint stability after surgery in a clinical setting are yet unknown.

Purpose/hypothesis: This study aimed to compare the anterior humeral head translation between pre- and postsurgical conditions using ultrasonography. It was hypothesized that ultrasonographic assessment would reveal decreased anterior translation.

Study design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods: A total of 27 patients (24 male, 3 female; mean age, 24.1 ± 9.7 years) with anterior shoulder instability were studied prospectively. All the patients underwent the arthroscopic Bankart-Bristow procedure under general anesthesia, and ultrasonographic evaluation was performed before and immediately after surgery. The forearm was fixed with an arm positioner in the beach-chair position, and the ultrasonographic transducer was located at the posterior part of the shoulder to visualize the humeral head and glenoid rim at the level of interval between the infraspinatus tendon and teres minor tendon. The upper arm was drawn anteriorly with a 40-N force at 0°, 45°, and 90° of shoulder abduction with neutral rotation. The distance from the posterior edge of the glenoid to that of the humeral head was measured using ultrasonography with and without anterior force. Anterior translation was defined by subtracting the distance with anterior force from the distance without anterior force.

Results: The humeral head position was translated posteriorly immediately after surgery in all patients. Anterior translation decreased significantly after surgery at 45° (7.7 ± 4.3 vs 5.8 ± 2.0 mm; P = .031) and 90° (8.9 ± 3.4 vs 6.1 ± 2.2 mm; P < .001) of abduction, whereas there was no difference between pre- and postsurgical translation at 0° of abduction (4.9 ± 2.3 vs 4.0 ± 2.1 mm, P = .089).

Conclusion: Ultrasonographic assessment immediately after a Bankart-Bristow procedure showed the humeral head was translated posteriorly relative to the glenoid at 0°, 45°, and 90° of abduction. The surgery also decreased anterior translation in response to an anteriorly directed force at 45° and 90° of abduction.

Keywords: dislocation; glenohumeral joint; instability; surgery; translation; ultrasonography.