The sudden sharp pain of shoulder dislocation robs the mind of all other focus, demanding immediate attention as the humerus is dislodged from its ball-and-socket joint with the scapula to tear through muscle tissue. Afterward, “shoulder instability” — one of the most common injuries in football — may develop as a chronic condition with heightened risk of reinjury. Yet a new study shows that most NFL players return to the game after suffering the injury, with open and arthroscopic surgeries proving equally beneficial.

About 90 percent of NFL players who suffer shoulder dislocation are eventually made whole again, playing at least one regular-season game following shoulder stabilization surgery, researchers said Thursday at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's annual meeting.

"Our study highlighted the success rate of return to play following shoulder stabilization surgery,” lead researcher Matthew J. White said in a press statement. “Age, number of games before surgery, and career length were not statistically different between those that returned and those that did not.”

Sixty NFL players participated in the study after undergoing shoulder stabilization at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala. After performing “chart review” and analyzing follow-up data from an NFL statistics database, White and his colleagues determined the 90 percent rate of return as well as factors influencing the recovery. They also conducted Chi square and t-tests to analyze differences between outcomes from the two different surgeries, as well as individual physiological differences among players.

Among the 90 percent who returned to the playing field, recovery time averaged 8.6 months. Forty-five of the players underwent the arthroscopic procedure while 11 opted for open surgery, with recovery rates of 92 percent and 82 percent, respectively.

"It was also interesting to note, that players selected before the fourth round of the NFL draft were 7.6 times more likely to return to play following shoulder stabilization surgery. Additional investigation on shoulder function and outcome scores long-term would also be beneficial in this group of athletes to determine better standards of care," White said.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says men are approximately twice as women to unidirectional shoulder dislocations, as opposed to multi-directional injuries, with 0.15 injuries per 1,000 “athletic exposures” compared to 0.06 per 1,000 in women.The sudden sharp pain of shoulder dislocation robs the mind of all other focus, demanding immediate attention as the humerus is dislodged from its ball-and-socket joint with the scapula to tear through muscle tissue. Afterward, “shoulder instability” — one of the most common injuries in football — may develop as a chronic condition with heightened risk of reinjury. Yet a new study shows that most NFL players return to the game after suffering the injury, with open and arthroscopic surgeries proving equally beneficial.

About 90 percent of NFL players who suffer shoulder dislocation are eventually made whole again, playing at least one regular-season game following shoulder stabilization surgery, researchers said Thursday at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's annual meeting.

"Our study highlighted the success rate of return to play following shoulder stabilization surgery,” lead researcher Matthew J. White said in a press statement. “Age, number of games before surgery, and career length were not statistically different between those that returned and those that did not.”

Sixty NFL players participated in the study after undergoing shoulder stabilization at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala. After performing “chart review” and analyzing follow-up data from an NFL statistics database, White and his colleagues determined the 90 percent rate of return as well as factors influencing the recovery. They also conducted Chi square and t-tests to analyze differences between outcomes from the two different surgeries, as well as individual physiological differences among players.

Among the 90 percent who returned to the playing field, recovery time averaged 8.6 months. Forty-five of the players underwent the arthroscopic procedure while 11 opted for open surgery, with recovery rates of 92 percent and 82 percent, respectively.

"It was also interesting to note, that players selected before the fourth round of the NFL draft were 7.6 times more likely to return to play following shoulder stabilization surgery. Additional investigation on shoulder function and outcome scores long-term would also be beneficial in this group of athletes to determine better standards of care," White said.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says men are approximately twice as women to unidirectional shoulder dislocations, as opposed to multi-directional injuries, with 0.15 injuries per 1,000 “athletic exposures” compared to 0.06 per 1,000 in women.