[Effectiveness of arthroscopic distal clavicle resection for symptomatic acromioclavicular joint arthritis].

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of arthroscopic distal clavicle resection for the symptomatic acromioclavicular joint arthritis.

Methods: The clinical data of 14 patients with symptomatic acromioclavicular joint arthritis treated by arthroscopic indirect distal clavicle resection between January 2020 and March 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 5 males and 9 females with an average age of 46.3 years (range, 18-57 years). The 4 cases of left shoulder and 10 cases of right shoulder were accompanied with acromial impingement, without the history of shoulder trauma. The average disease duration was 20.4 months (range, 9-48 months), and the average visual analogue scale (VAS) score was 7.6 (range, 5-9) preoperatively. The results were evaluated using the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder rating score before and after operation, further, the patient satisfaction rate was also calculated.

Results: All 14 patients were followed up 5-18 months, with an average of 13 months. There was no postoperative pain of acromioclavicular joint in 12 patients; 1 case had occasional mild pain, which could be controlled by painkillers. Moreover, there was only 1 acromioclavicular joint subluxation due to early fitness training at 2 weeks postoperatively, and the symptoms gradually relieved after 1 month of conservative treatments. The UCLA score was 22.1±6.2 preoperatively, which improved to 30.2±3.4 at last follow-up, showing significant difference ( =5.359, 0.001). The patient satisfaction rate was 92.9%, with 12 excellent cases, 1 good case, and 1 fair case.

Conclusion: Arthroscopic distal clavicle resection for symptomatic acromioclavicular arthritis is a safe, reliable, and repeatable procedure.