Prospective randomized clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of immediate arthroscopic stabilization versus immobilization and rehabilitation in first traumatic anterior dislocations of the shoulder.

Our purpose was to compare the effectiveness of traditional treatment with immediate arthroscopic stabilization in young patients who have sustained a first traumatic anterior dislocation of the shoulder. Forty skeletally mature patients younger than 30 years of age were randomly allocated to immobilization for 3 weeks followed by rehabilitation (group T) or arthroscopic stabilization (within 4 weeks of injury) followed by an identical immobilization and rehabilitation protocol (group S). A blinded research assistant performed all follow-up evaluations. The dominant arm was involved in 35% of subjects. The injury occurred in a sporting event in 70% of subjects. At 24 months, there was a statistically significant difference in the rate of redislocation (T = 47%, S = 15.9%, P = .03). An intention-to-treat analysis comparing disease-specific quality of life using the validated Western Ontario Shoulder Instability (WOSI) index showed statistically significantly better results in the surgically treated group at the 33 months (T = 633.93 v S = 287.1, P = .03) and no significant difference in range of motion. At an average 32 months follow-up, a significant reduction in redislocation and improvement in disease-specific quality of life is afforded by early arthroscopic stabilization in patients less than 30 year of age with a first, traumatic, anterior dislocation of the shoulder.