Evaluation of Patients with Acromioclavicular Joint Separation Treated Using the Clavicular Hook Plate

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of patients who underwent surgical treatment using the clavicular hook plate for diagnosed Rockwood Type 3 - Type 4 - Type 5 acromioclavicular joint separation.

Material and methods: Patients who were operated with the diagnosis of acute traumatic acromioclavicular joint separation between the years 2017-2021 were evaluated retrospectively. Patients' age, gender, mechanism of injury, time to surgery, follow-up duration, and complications were evaluated. Functional results were evalu-ated using pre-op and post-op VAS and the Constant-Murley Shoulder Score.

Results: A total of thirty patients admitted with the diagnosis of acromioclavicular joint separation were included. All patients underwent surgical treatment using the clavicular hook plate. Twenty (66.6%) patients were male and 10 (33.6%) were female. Seventeen of the patients were admitted due to sports injuries, 6 due to traffic accidents, and 7 due to workplace accidents. The patients were followed up for an average of 26.1 weeks. The Rockwood Classification was used for classification of injuries. Accordingly, 12, 13, and 5 of the patients had Type 3, Type 4, and Type 5 injury, respectively. While the mean pre-op VAS score was 7.4 (5-9), it was 1.8 (1-4) in the post-op period. The mean pre-op Constant-Murley score was 31.5 (22-42), compared to 85.1 (72-100) in the post-op period. The differences between the pre-op and post-op VAS and Constant-Murley Shoulder Scores were statistically significant.

Conclusion: In this study, we achieved good functional results in the treatment of acromioclavicular joint separation by using a clavicular hook plate providing stable fixation and allowing early mobilization.

Keywords: acromioclavicular joint; hook – plate; joint dislocation; outcomes; surgery.