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Basic Science Knee Research Shoulder Research

 

Shoulder Research

 

bulletVariants of the Anterosuperior Glenoid Labrum and Associated Pathology. Published in the journal, Arthroscopy, in 2002, this clinical investigation focused on the incidence of normal variants of the upper front part of the labrum (a lip of fibrous tissue that rings the saucer portion of the shoulder ball-and-saucer joint). These variants of normal anatomy can be confused for pathologic tearing of the labrum by imaging studies such as MRI and even at surgery. This was the world's first published prospective investigation related to these variants. Prospective investigations record data going forward, and therefore tend to be more reliable than retrospective investigations that rely on old records to gather data. This investigation revealed that the incidence of these normal variants was higher than what was previously thought based upon retrospective studies. Furthermore, this investigation revealed, for the first time, that these variants are associated with an increased incidence of certain types of labral tears. This finding was later confirmed by another investigation of this subject by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical School.

 

bulletAnatomic and Radiographic Analysis of Arthroscopic Tack Placement into the Anteroinferior Glenoid. Published in the journal, Orthopedics, in 2003, this laboratory investigation illustrated and quantified the limitations of arthroscopically inserting devices designed to re-attach torn ligaments for unstable shoulders. Most shoulder dislocations occur in an anterior direction. Shoulders that suffer recurrent anterior dislocations usually have torn or loose anterior ligaments. Traditional open surgical tightening of these ligaments has led to high rates of success. These procedures can now also be done with less invasive arthroscopic surgery. However, many series of these arthroscopic repairs demonstrated success rates lower than traditional open surgical procedures. This investigation shed light on one of the possible reasons for this lower success rate. For the first time, the limitations of inserting devices used to repair detached anterior ligaments through standard arthroscopic approaches were quantified. Such information may be of use to improve upon arthroscopic repair techniques in order to achieve higher success whilst minimizing invasiveness.

 

bulletClassification of Variants of the Anterior Superior Glenoid Labrum and Associated Shoulder Pathology.  This clinical investigation, published in early 2008 in the journal, Orthopedics, evaluated over 300 patients to help devise a useful classification system for commonly encountered anatomic variants of the upper front part of the labrum (a lip of fibrous tissue that rings the saucer portion of the shoulder ball-and-saucer joint).  This largest-to-date prospective investigation focusing on these variants confirmed earlier work done at TASMI that these variants are more commonly present than previously thought, and that certain types of these variants are associated with an increased incidence of certain types of labral tears, which can be symptomatic enough to require surgical intervention.

 

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Last modified: 06/05/12