Introduction: Anterior Labroligamentous Periosteal Sleeve Avulsion (ALPSA) lesions can lead to chronic shoulder instability and repetitive dislocations in active populations.
Objective: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate associated injuries and postoperative outcomes following ALPSA lesion repairs.
Methods: Medline, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science were searched through May 2022 for studies that investigated management and surgical outcomes of ALPSA lesion repair. Data was extracted on the following topics: surgical management, surgical complications, associated injuries, follow-up duration, and outcome parameters, including recurrence rates, functional outcome scores, range-of-motion (ROM), and return to activity.
Results: A total of 6 studies covering 202 patients met the inclusion criteria. In the included studies, 79% of patient were male with a mean age of 25.1 years. A total of 192 associated injuries were reported amongst 176 patients with the most common being Hill Sachs lesions (84, 43.8%), synovitis (35, 18.2%), SLAP tears (32, 16.7%) and glenoid erosions or lesions (30, 15.6%). All 202 patients were treated arthroscopically with no reported complications. 26 patients (12.9%) experienced operative failure as evidenced by recurrence of shoulder instability over a mean follow-up of 4.3 years. Various clinical outcome scores showed postoperative functional improvement and one study reported a 100% return to activity rate in 26 patients.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest a high 12.9 % risk of recurrence following ALPSA repair but satisfactory functional outcomes, both of which should be weighed by physicians when considering arthroscopic repair. Physicians should also be cognizant of co-pathologies when examining patients with suspected ALPSA lesions.
Keywords: ALPSA; Anterior Labroligamentous Periosteal Sleeve Avulsion; shoulder instability.