Arthroscopic Ligament & Capsule Repair

Given its high range of motion, the shoulder is inherently an unstable joint with a structure that makes it prone to injury with overuse, underuse, and aging. The surrounding soft tissues of the shoulder, such as capsule ligaments and the muscles surrounding the rotator cuff, hold the ball of the upper arm in place. When these soft tissues become injured or worn down, such as a torn or diseased rotator cuff or a labral tear, or when dealing with a recurrent dislocating shoulder or shoulder separation, arthroscopic repair may be recommended to return the shoulder’s functioning. 

 

Minimally invasive with faster recovery times than traditional surgery, arthroscopic ligament and capsule repair uses a small incision with a miniature scope to examine the inside of the joint before the repair begins. Arthroscopic repair can aim to fix Bankhart lesions, injuries where part of the ligaments and capsule of the shoulder are pulled away from the bone. Repairs can also focus on tightening up the ligaments of the shoulder that have been stretched or torn by the dislocation. Arthroscopically repairing the torn capsule and ligament back to the bone is referred to as a Bankhart repair, while tightening the capsule of the shoulder is known as a capsular shift.