What are the Benefits of the Latarjet Procedure?

The Latarjet procedure is a very reliable and robust technique to restore stability to the shoulder joint by using a nearby bone block (coracoid process).

The benefits of the Latarjet procedure is 2-fold and can be described as both the bony and soft tissue effect. The bony effect is that it increases the amount of bone at the front of the shoulder socket (glenoid) by 30-50%. The ball (humerus) therefore has to move so much further along the socket before it even comes close to dislocating. The soft tissue effect is that it allows the tendons still attached to the bone block, to act like a sling and actually push back on the shoulder when the shoulder is in the vulnerable overhead position, the so called ‘sling-effect’.

Accelerated rehabilitation is also possible after the Latarjet procedure as bone to bone healing of the bone block to the socket is quicker and more reliable than soft tissue healing of a Bankart repair. Return to sports including contact/collision sports such as AFL/AFLW is therefore possible within 3 months and allows for in-season surgery rather than waiting after the season.