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Isolated arthroscopic shoulder surgery yielded high return-to-play rates for football players
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Division I intercollegiate football athletes who underwent isolated arthroscopic surgery for shoulder instability had no statistically significant differences in return-to-play rates compared with athletes who underwent concomitant arthroscopic or open stabilization procedures, according to results.
R. Judd Robins, MD, and colleagues collected data on the direction of instability, type of surgery, time to resume sports participation, and quality and level of play before and after surgery for shoulder instability among 153 Division I intercollegiate football athletes.
Overall, researchers found 168 of 177 shoulder surgeries performed were arthroscopic. Results showed, among players who underwent arthroscopic surgery without concomitant procedures, 85.4% returned to play. Of athletes who returned to play, 93.3% were starters; 95.4% were utilized players; and 75.7% were rarely used players. According to results, subsequent shoulder injuries and recurrent instability that resulted in reduction or revision surgery occurred in 15.6% and 10.3% of athletes who returned to play, respectively.
Researchers noted athletes who underwent anterior labral repair, posterior labral repair, combined anterior-posterior repair or open repair had no differences in return-to-play rate. Results showed an increase in the percentage of games played before and after surgery from 49.9% to 71.5%, respectively. Athletes were more likely to return to play if they played a greater percentage of games prior to injury, with 91% of athletes who were starters before injury returning as starters after surgery. Researchers found a significant correlation between scholarship status and return to play after surgery.
Although Robins recommends surgeons use caution when applying these findings to the general population, he told Healio.com/Orthopedics, “The majority of football athletes who underwent some form of shoulder stabilization surgery were able to progress in regard to depth chart status and percentage of eligible games played when compared to their status prior to surgery, suggesting the ability to grow and progress in their respective football program following shoulder stabilization surgery.” – by Casey Tingle
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures. The views presented in this article do not reflect the official position of the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.
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