Six-week physical rehabilitation protocol for anterior shoulder dislocation in athletes

Abstract

Anterior shoulder dislocations are common in young athletes. The mechanism for the first or primary shoulder dislocation may involve a collision or a fall typically with the arm in an abducted and externally ro-tated position. The aim of this study was to design a physical rehabilita-tion program using the elastic band and resistive exercise to improve joint strength and range of motion in individuals diagnosed with a first-time shoulder dislocation. Twelve physically active males with a first-time acute shoulder dislocation were asked to volunteer. Participants began a physical rehabilitation program 2 weeks after the shoulder dis-location, which was confirmed by a referring physician. The rehabilita-tion program was 6 weeks in duration and required the participants to engage in progressive resistive loads/duration using elastic bands and weights 5 days per week. Pretest and posttest measures included shoulder strength and range of motion. All outcome measures were compared between the injured and uninjured shoulder, which served as the control condition in this study. There were statistically significant differences between the injured and uninjured shoulder for measures of strength and range of motion during pretests (P < 0.01) but not post-tests (P < 0.53). Finally, there were no differences between shoulders in regards to the volume measure suggesting that any changes in muscle atrophy or swelling were not detected. The physical rehabilitation pro-gram proposed in this study was effective at improving strength and range of motion in the injured shoulder as evidenced by the similarity in posttest values between the injured and uninjured shoulder.