All of the procedures were performed by the same orthopedic surgeon with 12 years of experience who performs about 120 shoulder surgeries annually. He had the assistance of a scrub nurse and, occasionally, an assistant, with the patient under general anesthesia and interscalene block. The patient was positioned in the beach chair position (30–40°) with the ipsilateral limb placed on a movable arm positioner (Spider Limb Positioner, Smith & Nephew, Andover, MA, USA). Systolic blood pressure was, when possible, kept below 100 mmHg. The surgical technique used specifically designed equipment for the arthroscopic surgical procedure (Latarjet Guiding System; Smith & Nephew Inc., Andover, MA, USA) and was previously described by Boileau et al. [12 (link)]. Briefly, the technique followed five steps: (1) coracoid preparation, drilling, and osteotomy; (2) glenoid preparation and drilling; (3) subscapularis splitting and axillary nerve protection; (4) coracoid transfer and fixation; and (5) Bankart repair.
The operating time (from incision to skin closure) was recorded. The following intraoperative events were noted: conversion to open surgery, the occurrence of a fracture of the bone block, or an occurrence of a hardware-related complication.
The operating time (from incision to skin closure) was recorded. The following intraoperative events were noted: conversion to open surgery, the occurrence of a fracture of the bone block, or an occurrence of a hardware-related complication.