Abstract
This paper retrospectively reviews the type and outcome of shoulder surgery in 61 professional rugby players (mean age 24.7 years). All competed at provincial level or higher, with 20 competing internationally. Forty-three of the patients played the position of forward, while 33 played back. Most shoulders (41) were on the dominant side. Ten players had multiple procedures and over a seven-year period 76 procedures were performed. The procedures included 16 Latarjets, four arthroscopic stabilisations, four SLAP repairs, four arthroscopic shoulder decompressions, three biceps tenodeses, three HAGL repairs, two revision Latarjets, one posterior Bankart, one pectoralis major repair, one Weaver-Dunn and four combination procedures.
All but two players returned to their previous level of competition. The mean time to return to full contact participation was 3.6 months (1 to 12). The time to return was one month for an arthroscopic Mumford and six months for a stabilisation procedure.
The abstracts were prepared by Professor M. B. E. Sweet. Correspondence should be addressed to him at PO Box 47363, Parklands, Johannesburg 2121, South Africa.
