RESUMO
PURPOSE: The purpose of this work is to report mid- to long-term clinical results, recurrence rates and instability following surgery to repair anterior dislocation of the shoulder by the remplissage technique. METHODS: This was a retrospective case series at a single center with patients with anterior shoulder instability that received surgery using the remplissage technique. Rowe questionnaire, instability complaints, recurrence episodes and return to sport were analyzed. RESULTS: Of all patients screened, 21 (92.3%) were enrolled and only 2 patients were lost to follow-up. The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 27.8y.o., and the mean number of dislocations before surgery was 3.2 episodes. The follow-up average was 83.8 months (range 28-126). No case of postoperative infection was observed. Two patients (9.5%) had recurrent shoulder instability and required reintervention after 18 and 48 months. The average final Rowe score was 92.9 (range 75-100). All patients that played sports before surgery returned to the sport, and 73.7% of them returned to the same activity level. CONCLUSION: The remplissage technique applied to repair anterior shoulder dislocation with humeral bone loss presents good results regarding clinical scores, shoulder stability and acceptable rates of return to sports, even in a mid- to long-term follow-up. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.