Abstract
Background: Baseball, which includes both overhead and contact sport aspects, is one of the most popular sports in Japan. The purpose of this study is to report the treatment outcome after arthroscopic stabilization for recurrent glenohumeral instability in baseball players.
Methods: Subjects consisted of 45 baseball players who underwent arthroscopic stabilization for recurrent anterior glenohumeral instability. All patients were males with a mean age of 17.8 years old. Among them, the dominant arm was affected in 29 patients (D group) and the non-dominant arm was affected in 16 patients (ND group). All patients were followed for a minimum of one year after surgery. The causes of first time dislocation and clinical outcomes were investigated.
Results: The first time dislocation mostly occurred when they played baseball. Among them, 17 patients (57%) were injured by head-first sliding in the D group. Head-first sliding (43%) and diving catch (36%) were the two major causes in ND group. Patients initiated the throwing activity at 4.5 months after surgery in D group and 3.5 months after surgery in ND group, on average. They returned to competition at 9.6 months after surgery in D group and 6.2 months after surgery in ND group, on average. Three patients (6.7%) experienced re-injury after return to baseball.
Conclusion: The most frequent cause of first time dislocation in baseball players was head-first sliding. Arthroscopic stabilization for these patients yielded a satisfactory outcome. However, in dominant shoulders, 3.5 additional months were required to return to competition when compared with the non-dominant arm.
