The Arthroscopic Bankart Repair is an effective procedure to treat patients that have anterior shoulder instability.  The majority of patients who suffer a traumatic anterior dislocation of their shoulder will tear the fibrocartilage labrum at the front of the shoulder.  Many of these patients will go on to develop recurrent instability in their shoulders and keep dislocating.  This will have a significant effect on the ability to participate in sports and sometimes also their work.  It is the tear in the labrum that is largely responsible for allowing their shoulder to continue to dislocate.
It has been established that if only patients with a pure labral tear are treated with an arthroscopic bankart repair then the results are as high as an open repair.  The aim of surgery is to return people to full normal sporting and work activities and the risk of a redislocation in this situation is less than 5% with a well-performed arthroscopic procedure.
The Arthroscopic Bankart procedure repairs this tear in the labrum and by doing so restores stability to the shoulder.
PROCEDURE

‍The arthroscopic Bankart repair is performed using bone anchors that are drilled into the Glenoid. The bone anchors have sutures attached to them that are then used to tie the torn cartilage (labrum) back to where it has torn off from the anterior Glenoid.  At the same time, the shoulder joint capsule that has been stretched by the dislocation is sutured to the anchors further tightening the shoulder.  This is termed a capsulolabral plication.
What to Expect
‍The arthroscopic Bankart repair is performed under a general anaesthetic.  The surgery takes about 2 hours.