A reduction in the rate of nerve injury after Latarjet: a before-after study after neuromonitoring

Background: Neurologic dysfunction is a known complication after the open Latarjet procedure. Although the reported clinical incidence is variable, a prior neuromonitoring study demonstrated a significant incidence of nerve dysfunction during surgery, presumably from nerve stretch. We aimed to determine whether a nerve stretch-reduction protocol reduced the incidence of neurologic injury after the open Latarjet procedure. Methods: In a nonrandomized study, 38 patients (group 1) who underwent surgery before our neuromonitoring study were compared with 48 patients (group 2) who underwent surgery after this study. Follow-up was at least 3 months or until documented resolution of nerve dysfunction. Results: There were no significant demographic differences between the groups. In group 1, there were 7 nerve injuries, of which all but 2 recovered. In group 2, there were 3 nerve injuries, of which all but 1 recovered. The overall incidence of nerve injury was 18.4% (group 1) vs. 6.3% (group 2); however, the incidence of permanent motor dysfunction was 5.3% (group 1) vs. 2.1% (group 2). These differences were not significant, likely due to the small number of patients included. Conclusions: We observed a reduction of nerve injury with the implementation of a nerve stretch-reduction protocol during the Latarjet procedure; however, we could not demonstrate statistical significance. This trend represents an important finding that modification of surgical technique can reduce the incidence of nerve injury with the Latarjet procedure.