Bankart repair

Overview

Shoulder joint anatomy showing the humeral head, glenoid socket, and rotator cuff muscles (supraspinatus and infraspinatus). — **Shoulder anatomy.** The shoulder is a shallow ball-and-socket joint. The top of the upper-arm bone (humerus) sits against a small dish on the shoulder blade (glenoid), and four rotator-cuff tendons wrap around the ball to hold it centered during every arm motion.

Most anterior shoulder dislocations tear the front of the labrum off the glenoid rim — a Bankart lesion — and leave the shoulder without its primary anterior restraint. Without repair, the shoulder often re-dislocates, especially in young athletes; each dislocation adds bone and cartilage damage.

How the Procedure Works

Through arthroscopic portals we mobilize the torn labrum off the glenoid neck — it needs to be freed completely to seat back at the rim rather than healing in a medialized, scarred-down position, which is the most common reason soft-tissue Bankart repairs fail. The anterior glenoid rim is prepared to bleeding bone. We place suture anchors at the glenoid face, typically three, starting at the 5:30 o'clock position and working superiorly — anchor position drives labral height and capsular tension. Each pass brings the labrum back to the rim and tightens the anterior capsule to eliminate the redundancy that allows the humeral head to slip forward. Before closing, we rotate the arm into abduction and external rotation to confirm that instability is eliminated without over-constraining motion.

When to Consider Bankart Repair

Bankart repair is generally offered when symptoms, imaging, and a trial of non-operative care together point to surgery as the next step. The typical picture includes:

First-time or recurrent dislocation
A young active patient, particularly in contact or overhead sport, with one or more episodes of anterior dislocation.
High-risk population
Contact athletes and active military members where recurrence risk without surgery is very high.
Minimal glenoid bone loss
Bone loss on the glenoid rim below the threshold that would mandate a bony procedure like a Latarjet.