Comparative efficacy of treatments for a first-time traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Background: First-time traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation (FASD) is a common trauma associated with shoulder dysfunction. Although several randomized controlled trials have compared conservative and surgical treatments for FASD, the comparative efficacy of these treatments is poorly understood. In this network meta-analysis (NMA), we compared the available evidence on the efficacy of various interventions in patients with FASD.

Methods: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases in March 2023. This NMA included randomized controlled trials comparing conservative and surgical treatments for FASD, including arthroscopic Bankart repair, arthroscopic lavage, external rotation (ER) immobilization, and internal rotation (IR) immobilization. The primary outcomes were redislocation rates, Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index (WOSI) scores, and adverse events (AEs). We conducted random-effects NMA within the frequentist framework. To rank the treatments, the Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking curve was calculated using a Bayesian framework. We evaluated confidence in each outcome using the CINeMA tool.

Results: Of the 2999 reviewed studies, 15 were included and analyzed. Regarding the primary outcomes, arthroscopic Bankart repair likely results in a large reduction in redislocation rates compared to IR immobilization (risk ratio [RR], 0.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.07-0.33). Both arthroscopic lavage (RR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.20-1.11) and ER immobilization (RR 0.70; 95% CI, 0.50-1.00) may reduce the redislocation rates slightly compared with IR immobilization. According to these results, arthroscopic Bankart repair ranked first in terms of reducing the redislocation rate, followed by arthroscopic lavage, ER and IR immobilization. Regarding the WOSI score, no substantial differences were observed in the WOSI scores among the four treatments. AEs showed that ER immobilization tended to cause greater shoulder stiffness than IR immobilization, and postoperative erythema, swelling, and adhesive capsulitis were observed after arthroscopic Bankart repair and lavage. However, a meta-analysis was not performed because the definitions of AEs differed between the studies.

Conclusion: Arthroscopic Bankart repair showed a significant effect in reducing the redislocation rate compared to IR immobilization. Although both arthroscopic lavage and ER immobilization seemed to be effective in reducing the redislocation rates, it was not statistically significant. Moreover, these four treatments may result in little to no difference in disease-specific quality of life and there is no clear evidence of AEs.