Abstract
There are many surgical procedures on the patients with type 5 acromioclavicle joint separation classified by Rockwood's criteria. The results of the surgical procedures were satisfactory. However, these procedures did not reconstruct a correct coracoclavicle ligament. In this study, we tried to reconstruct the conoid ligament and trapezoid ligament, which was composed of the coracoclavicle ligaments, using the palmaris longus tendon and artificial ligament with an end button. We reviewed the postoperative results of the seven patients on whom we performed the reconstruction of a correct coracoclavicle ligament more than postoperative 6 months. There were 7 patients (6 males, one female), and their ages at the time of treatment ranged from 22 to 58 years old (mean: 39 years old). The waiting periods to the surgical procedure were 10 to 24 days (mean: 14.5 days), and 2 cases were only reconstructed the conoid ligament. Pain, including night pain and motion pain, was not noted in every patient. The disturbance of range of motion in the shoulder joint had recovered in only one month postoperatively. On the radiographic evaluations, 2 patients, who had had only reconstruction of the conoid ligament, remained subluxation of the acromioclavicle joint, but the other 5 patients kept the reduced position in that joint at their final consultation. Nevertheless, the demerits of excision of the palmaris longus, the results of our procedure were highly satisfactory.
