SLAP ( Superior Labrum Anterior and Posterior ) Sesion of the Shoulder Joint

Rhee, Yong Girl; Bae, Eun Whan

Abstract

A SLAP lesion is a tear in the superior aspect of the glenoid labrum, in which the injury begins posteriorly and extends anteriorly, stopping at or above the mid glenoid notch. We reviewed retrospectively the clinical history, the positive physical findings, the associated diseases, and the final results of twenty four patients with SLAP lesion which were diagnosed and treated arthroscopically between October 1993 and February 1996. There were twenty three males and or.e female with an average age of 28 years. Follow-up time was averaged 18 months (range; 12 to 20) In according to Snyder's classification, seven cases were Type I, six cases were Type II, seven cases were Type III and four cases were Type IV. The common mechanisms of injury were compression force to the shoulder (ll cases),traction injury (7 cases) and the remainders were unknown. Among these, solitary SLAP lesion was eight cases. A high incidence of associated pathology was noted in these patients; multidirectional instability (1), unidirectional anterior instability (7), full thickness rotator cuff tear (3), partial thickness rotator cuff tear (5) and the frozen shoulder (1). Patients were treated for associated pathology and additional treatment of SLAP lesion was done by arthroscopic excision (9), repair (5), biceps tenodesis (1) and arthroscopic debridement (9). On evaluation, seventy nine percentages of patients obtained either good or excellent results post-operatively, and especially in the solitary SLAP lesions, eighty eight percentages achieved significant improvements, even though it was difficult to say whether the arthroscopic surgery itself contributed to resolve some of shoulder pain and instability when SLAP lesion was associated with other shoulder diseases.