Ten patients who had an internal rotation contracture and pain after an
anterior repair for recurrent dislocation of the shoulder were treated by
release of the subscapularis muscle. For six of the patients, radiographs
demonstrated severe osteoarthrotic changes in the shoulder as well. The
release was done an average of eleven years after the original procedure,
which, for most patients, had been a Putti-Platt repair. After release of
the subscapularis, each patient had less pain in the shoulder and an
average increase of 27 degrees of external rotation. Release of the
subscapularis can offer relief of pain and of functional limitations
associated with the symptoms caused by an internal rotation contracture
after an anterior repair of the shoulder.