Can the need for future surgery for acute traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation be predicted?
GROUND: Some surgeons believe that they can identify patients who are at high risk for shoulder redislocation and that these patients are best served by immediate surgical stabilization. This natural history study was performed to examine the validity of this concept and to determine whether it is possible to predict the need for future surgery at the time of the index injury and examination. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-one patients were followed for an average of four years after their first shoulder dislocation. An extensive history was recorded and a thorough physical examination was performed on each patient. Final evaluation consisted of a physical examination, radiographic evaluation, and determination of three outcome measurements. RESULTS: Twenty-nine (22%) of the 131 patients requested surgery during the follow-up period. There were twenty Bankart repairs and nine rotator cuff repairs. Forty-three patients (33%) had at least one recurrent dislocation. Thirty-nine of these
