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Arthroscopic repair of type II superior labrum anterior posterior (SLAP) lesions in patients over the age of 45 years: a prospective study

  • Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Superior labrum anterior posterior (SLAP) lesions are a well-defined cause of shoulder pain and disability and may occur in conjunction with rotator cuff tears. This study was designed to prospectively evaluate the minimum 2 year results of arthroscopic repair of type II SLAP lesions in patients over the age of 45 years with and without rotator cuff tears.

Patients and methods

Thirty-five patients with symptomatic type II SLAP lesions were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent arthroscopic SLAP repair and simultaneous repairs were carried out in 17 of these patients who had concomitant full-thickness rotator cuff tears. Patients were grouped into two with regard to the presence of rotator cuff tears. The outcome was assessed by University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) score and clinical examination (forward flexion/internal rotation/external rotation).

Results

At an average follow-up of 2.5 years, both groups displayed significant improvements in UCLA score (31.2 vs. 11.8; p < 0.01) and range of motion. Compared with the group that had SLAP and concomitant rotator cuff tears, patients in isolated SLAP group had significantly better scores in function (9.4 vs. 8.6; p = 0.045) and patient satisfaction (4.9 vs. 4.5; p = 0.039). No significant difference was found between two groups with respect to range of motion.

Conclusions

The arthroscopic repair of symptomatic type II SLAP lesions yields favorable outcomes in patients over 45 years of age and the presence of accompanying rotator cuff tears has a negative effect on the results.

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Acknowledgments

We report no possible conflicts of interest with any institutions or companies and also no outside funding or grants. None of the researchers or an affiliated institute received from a commercial entity something of value related in any way to this manuscript or research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Gazi University Hospital, Ankara, 06510, Turkey

    Ulunay Kanatli & Selcuk Bolukbasi

  2. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Erzincan State Hospital, Erzincan, Turkey

    Burak Yagmur Ozturk

Authors
  1. Ulunay Kanatli
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  2. Burak Yagmur Ozturk
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  3. Selcuk Bolukbasi
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Correspondence to Ulunay Kanatli.

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We hereby state that all ethical, legal and patient rights wise considerations were fulfilled during and after this study.

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Kanatli, U., Ozturk, B.Y. & Bolukbasi, S. Arthroscopic repair of type II superior labrum anterior posterior (SLAP) lesions in patients over the age of 45 years: a prospective study. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 131, 1107–1113 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-011-1348-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-011-1348-8

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