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MDI 
What is it? 
Should we Operate? 
Lennard Funk 
@theshoulderdoc 
lenfunk@shoulderdoc.co.uk
www.wrightington.com 
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? MDI 
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22yr secretary, asymptomatic 
Hyperlax in all directions 
ANTERIOR 
POSTERIOR INFERIOR
?MDI 
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17yr old swimmer - overstretch in pool 
Subluxing posterior in flexion and painful
?MDI 
20 year old rugby player - tackling impact injury 
Pain & dead arm; feels unstable 
Large anterior and posterior labral tears 
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MDI - Definitions? 
1. Shoulder Instability in patients who have generalised 
looseness of the ligaments of the shoulder [Web Dictionary] 
2. Generalised looseness of the shoulder joint 
3. Abnormal excursion of the humeral head on the glenoid in all 
directions [Neer] 
4. Instability in TWO directions [1,2,3,4] 
5. Instability in THREE directions [5,6,7] 
6. Motor Control Trouble - the less surgery the best 
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(Olivier Gagey - 20min ago!) 
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nferior 
shift 
eh 
abilitation 
ilateral 
ultidirection 
al 
traumatic 
Range AMBRI 
TUBS 
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urgery 
ankart 
nidirectional 
umatic 
ra
The use of laxity testing tends to result in an overestimation of the 
number of patients with this condition. 
This observation is important because the results of studies may vary 
if patients with traumatic instability are considered to have 
multidirectional instability on the basis of laxity testing. 
Investigators studying patients with multidirectional instability should 
carefully define the inclusion criteria that they used. 
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Uncontrollable, involuntary inferior subluxation 
or dislocation, associated with both anterior and 
posterior dislocations or subluxations of the 
shoulder. 
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Stanmore Classification 
Atraumatic 
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Polar I 
Traumatic Structural 
Polar II 
Atraumatic Structural 
Polar III 
Motor Control
What is it? 
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• Shoulder Instability in patients who have generalised 
looseness of the ligaments of the shoulder [Web Dictionary] 
• Atraumatic 
• Multidirectional laxity 
• Uni/Multidirectional Instability
Stanmore Classification 
Atraumatic 
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Small lesion Repair 
Capsular Plications 
Polar I 
Traumatic Structural 
Polar II 
Atraumatic Structural 
Polar III 
Motor Control 
Large lesion Repair 
Bony Reconstructions 
Rehab +/- 
Capsular Plication 
Specialist 
Rehab.
Rehab 
Optimise: 
Core 
Scapula 
Kinetic Chain 
Psychology 
Proprioception 
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Proprioception 
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Mechanoreceptors in GHL 
Jerosch et al. 1997 
Gohlke et al 1998
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Capsular Plication / Shift
Capsular Plication / Shift 
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Capsular Plication 
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Capsular Plication Results 
Arthroscopic 88-94% success at 2-5yrs Gartsmann 
Open 
94% good/excellent at 5yrs Bigliani 
59% good/excellent 
83% satisfactory 
Hamada 
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Arthroscopic Plication Audit 
Clinical outcome of arthroscopic capsular 
plication for atraumatic instability (Stanmore II) 
of the shoulder by a single surgeon, with >12 
month follow-up. 
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Tablot, Carter & Funk, BESS 2012
Patients 
• 23 patients (16 ) 
• Average age 27 (19 – 41 years) 
• Follow-up – 15.6 months (range 4 - 40 months) 
• Previous Thermal Capsular Shrinkage: 6 
• Average Pre-Op Specialist Physio: 5.4 months 
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Pre-op Post-op 
* 
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* Statistically significantly improved score (p<0.001) 
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16 
54 
39 
* 
32 
* 
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60. 
45. 
30. 
15. 
0. 
OSS OIS DASH
Patient Satisfaction 
• Pre-op: 3.2/10 
• Post-op: 8.6 / 10 
• with average 82.4% improvement in symptoms 
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Stanmore Classification 
Atraumatic 
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Small lesion Repair 
Capsular Plications 
Polar I 
Traumatic Structural 
Polar II 
Atraumatic Structural 
Polar III 
Motor Control 
Large lesion Repair 
Bony 
Reconstructions 
Rehab +/- 
Capsular Plication 
Specialist 
Rehab.
Atraumatic shoulder instability 
Randomized Controlled Trial 
Does stabilisation surgery followed by 
physiotherapy improve short & long term 
outcomes compared with physiotherapy alone? 
Associate Professor Karen Ginn 
Ms Anju Jaggi 
Dr Susan Alexander 
Professor Len Funk 
Professor Rob Herbert 
Associate Professor Karen Ginn
Karen Ginn 
Rob Herbert 
Anju Jaggi 
Susan Alexander 
Len Funk
Clinical Trial 
 aim 
a robust randomised controlled clinical trial to determine whether surgical 
intervention followed by physiotherapy improves outcomes in patients 
suffering from atraumatic shoulder instability associated with capsulolabral 
damage compared with physiotherapy alone 
 design 
double blind (patient & physiotherapist) randomised controlled clinical trial 
sham-controlled surgical arm 
in order to account for the strong placebo effect associated with “the high levels of stress and 
rituals involved with surgery” 
Dowrick & Bhandari 2012 
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ethics approval granted data collection commenced April 2013
Methodology - Procedure 
exclude – 
bony damage & RC tear 
subjects blinded no capsulolabral damage 
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patients with a feeling of insecurity in their shoulder, not associated with a high collision injury, 
which is provoked by physical examination tests, who do not have upper limb nerve damage 
identified 
MRI examination 
• sign consent to participate prior to undergoing diagnostic arthroscope 
• undergo baseline outcome measurements 
diagnostic arthroscope 
• subjects recruited 
• randomly allocation 
stabilisation surgery no further intervention 
post-operative physiotherapy 
maximum 12 treatment sessions over 6 months 
6 months post-randomisation 
all outcome measurements re-assessed 
1 & 2 years post-randomisation 
exclude – 
WOSI, participant perceived improvement & dislocation episodes re-assessed 
therapists blinded 
assessor blinded 
assessor blinded
Thank You 
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lenfunk@shoulderdoc.co.uk
http://www.salford.ac.uk/spd/coursede 
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tails?courseid=THESCAfQ7Q
References: 
1.Altchek DW, Warren RF, Skyhar MJ, Ortiz G. T-plasty modification of the Bankart procedure for multidirectional 
instability of the anterior and inferior types. J Bone Joint Surg Am . 1991;73: 105-12.Abstract/FREE Full Text 
2. Bak K, Spring BJ, Henderson JP. Inferior capsular shift procedure in athletes with multidirectional instability based on 
isolated capsular and ligamentous redundancy. Am J Sports Med . 2000;28: 466-71.Abstract/FREE Full Text 
3. Flatow EL, Miniaci A, Evans PJ, Simonian PT, Warren RF. Instability of the shoulder: complex problems and failed 
repairs: Part II. Failed repairs. Instr Course Lect . 1998;47: 113-25.Medline 
4.Gerber C. Observations on the classification of instability. In: Warner JJP, Iannotti JP, Gerber C, editors. Complex and 
revision problems in shoulder surgery . Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven; 1996. p 9-18. 
5.Pagnani MJ, Warren RF, Altchek DW, Wickiewicz TL, Anderson AF. Arthroscopic shoulder stabilization using 
transglenoid sutures. A four-year minimum followup. Am J Sports Med . 1996;24: 459-67. 
6. Jobe FW, Tibone JE, Pink MM, Jobe CM, Kvitne RS. The shoulder in sports. In: Rockwood CA Jr, Matsen FA 3rd, 
editors. The shoulder . 2nd ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1996. p 1214-38. 
7. Neer CS 2nd. Involuntary inferior and multidirectional instability of the shoulder: etiology, recognition, and treatment. 
Instr Course Lect . 1985;34: 232-8 
8.Pollock RG, Owens JM, Flatow EL, Bigliani LU. Operative results of the inferior capsular shift procedure for 
multidirectional instability of the shoulder. J Bone Joint Surg Am . 2000;82: 919-28 
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