Background & Objectives: Over 150 different surgical techniques for treatment of anterior shoulder instability has been suggested that there is no consensus in the orthopedics. This study seeks to compare treatment outcomes of arthroscopic Bankart lesion repair methods with Bristow - Latarjet open surgical technique in patients with anterior shoulder instability.

  Methods: In this cross-sectional study all patients with recurrent shoulder dislocation from 2009-2011 was divided into two groups, arthroscopic Bankart treatment (28 cases) and open Bristow - Latarjet (26 cases) that all were treated by one orthopedic surgeon. Patients were visited in 2,4,6,8 weeks also in the third and sixth month post-op .The visual analog scale (VAS) for patient satisfaction and Walsch-duplay and Rowe score for functional outcomes of treatment were used in six months follow up. These three criteria were analyzed again after recalling the patients.

  Results: Mean age of 54 patients was 29.46±9.16 years and mean follow-up duration was 23.28 ± 6.2 months. Scores of patients in both groups were not statistically different after analyzing the functional outcomes of treatment by Walsch-duplay and Rowe score after six months and final follow-up. Scores of patients by Walsch-duplay measurement in arthroscopic Bankart and Bristow-Latarjet groups were 98.03±4.37 and 97.88±4.51 respectively and by Rowe index were 97.32±5.52 vs. 97.88±4.51at final follow-up. No recurrence was observed in both groups in final follow up. Patient satisfaction in Bankart and operation groups were 9.4 ±0.68 and 9.47±0.58 (p= 0.69).

  Conclusion: In anterior shoulder instability, minimally invasive Arthroscopic Bankart procedures almost equal to open Bristow-Latarjet method with regards to shoulder stability, recurrence rate, and range of motion.