EVALUATION OF RESULTS AND COMPLICATIONS FROM ARTHROSCOPIC SUTURE OF SLAP LESIONS

Objective: To evaluate the results and complications from arthroscopic suturing of SLAP lesions. Methods: Seventy-one patients who underwent arthroscopic suturing of SLAP lesions between July 1995 and May 2008 were evaluated. The procedures were performed by the Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Group of the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Fernandinho Simonsen Wing, Santa Casa de São Paulo, Brazil. Associated lesions were seen in 68 of the 71 patients evaluated (96%), and the other three (4%) had SLAP lesions alone. Results: The associated lesions most frequently found in the patients under 40 years of age were labral lesions (69%), while in patients aged 40 years or over, impact syndrome with or without rotator cuff injury was the most commonly associated condition (71.4%). According to the UCLA method, 79% of our results (56 cases) were good or excellent. Postoperative complications occurred in 15 cases (21%); among these, the most common was the presence of residual pain (46.6%), followed by adhesive capsulitis (33.3%). Conclusions: There was a great association between SLAP lesions and other shoulder lesions, which varied according to the patients' age groups. Arthroscopic suturing of the SLAP lesions provided excellent results in the majority of the cases, but complications occurred in 21%.