New Variant of the Treatment of AcromionClavicular Dislocation With TightRope ® System in a Mini -Open Approach: A Preliminary Clinical Study

Many different surgical techniques have been described to stabilize the acromionclavicular (AC) dislocations. So far many of these procedures are performed only in arthroscopy. In this study, we describe a new technique that utilizes the tightrope with a miniinvasive open approach for the acute stabilization of the acromionclavicular joint (ACJ) dislocation. We set an prospective study aimed to verify the efficacy of this new surgical technique. We treated 28 patients with acute ACJ dislocation with ACJ TightRope ® System with dual mini access. We retrospectively reviewed the data of 34 patients treated with arthroscopic technique. They were considered as the control group. At 6 month’s followup, all the 28 patients showed a stable joint during clinical examination and obtained an average Constant score of 98.62/100, with a complete recovery of ROM and strength in abduction. The mean operation time was of 33.7 minutes. The mean recovery duration was 102.8 days. No significant difference was found between the experimental and control groups (P 0.05). Results of this trial suggest the effectiveness of this new miniinvasive surgical technique in producing clinical and functional recovery in patients with ACJ dislocations.