Chronic acromioclavicular dislocations: multidirectional stabilization without grafting

• Main Authors: José Antonio Cano-Martínez, MD, Gregorio Nicolás-Serrano, MD, Julio Bento-Gerard, MD, Francisco Picazo Marín, MD, Josefina Andres Grau, MD, Mario López Antón, MD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-09-01
• Series: JSES International
• Subjects: Acromioclavicular joint; chronic dislocation; anatomic reconstruction; horizontal stability; minimally invasive surgery; Twin Tail TightRope technique
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666638320300669

Objective: Clinical and radiological evaluation of the surgical treatment of chronic acromioclavicular (AC) dislocations with triple button device and AC joint augmentation. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 21 patients with chronic AC dislocations. All patients underwent bilateral-weighted Zanca and Alexander views as well as the Constant score (CS) and Acromioclavicular Joint Instability Scoring System (ACJI). Results: A total of 21 patients (19 men and 2 women) with the mean age of 30.7 ± 11.7 years (range, 19-62 years) were able to participate in clinical and radiographic follow-up. After a mean follow-up of 49.7 ± 17.1 months (range, 13-60 months), the results of the CS were 95.2 ± 5.5 (range, 85-100) and ACJI test 89.7 ± 7.9 (range, 75-100), showing no significant differences with the uninjured shoulder (CS, 96.2 ± 3.9; range, 85-100; ACJI, 95.7 ± 4.1; range, 85-100). At the final review, we observed that the preoperative coracoclavicular distance (Zanca view) improved from 12.8 ± 1.5 mm to 8.5 ± 1.3 mm and the AC distance (Alexander view) from 7.8 ± 2.3 mm to 0.99 ± 0.91 mm. Compared with healthy shoulder, these differences were not significant. Osteoarthritis or radiological calcifications were not associated with worse clinical outcomes. Conclusion: The triple button device is an acceptable alternative surgical method for chronic AC joint dislocations. The surgical technique is simple; it does not need a graft, nor does it present major complications, and material extraction is unnecessary.