The relationship between kinesiophobia and return to sport after shoulder surgery for recurrent anterior instability

Review written by Jared Powell info

Key Points

  1. Those who return to pre-injury level of sport after surgery for recurrent anterior shoulder instability have higher shoulder function and lower kinesiophobia levels.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Recurrent anterior shoulder instability in an athletic population can affect performance, quality of life, and the ability to continue participation in sport. If this person is a professional athlete, this represents a potential financial and identity issue that healthcare practitioners should not lose sight of.

Traditionally, recurrent anterior instability has been viewed as a physical/structural problem, most commonly attributed to lesions of the labrum, glenoid (1), humeral head, or perhaps insufficient shoulder strength (2) and proprioception (3). This has led to shoulder stabilization surgery being perceived as the gold standard method of preventing recurrent dislocations, particularly in young athletic individuals (4).

However, many individuals don’t return to sport despite a “successful surgical intervention” (5). Why? There is a suggestion that psychosocial constructs, such as kinesiophobia, could partially explain this. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between kinesiophobia and patient’s return to sport after shoulder stabilization surgery.

Recurrent anterior shoulder instability in an athletic population can affect performance, quality of life, and the ability to continue participation in sport.
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You could implement the best rehabilitation regimen and the surgeon might be very pleased with the location of their screws, but all this means nothing if the person in question is fearful of returning to sport.

METHODS

This was a retrospective case series study design. Patients who were affected by recurrent anterior instability and who underwent subsequent shoulder surgery were approached asked to participate in the study. The two surgical procedures that were investigated were an arthroscopic

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