Treatment of type III acute acromioclavicular joint dislocations according to the Rockwood classifications with AO hook plate

Abstract Purpose Assess the short term functional and radiological results of using the AO hook plate in type III acute acromioclavicular joint dislocations. Materials and methods During the 2006–2008 period, we performed 70 interventions due to injuries (fractures and dislocations) of the clavicle, 26 of them being acute or chronic acromioclavicular joint dislocations. We analyzed the results of 11 acute cases treated with an AO hook plate. This group had an average age 38 years, 6 cases due to traffic accidents and 5 were related to accidents at work. The plate was withdrawn at an average of 9 weeks (range 6–12 weeks). Results The functional outcome of the series according to the Constant test of acute AC joint dislocations was a mean of 94 with the score on the VAS of 2.1. Average time to surgery for acute joint dislocations was 9 days. All the patients, except for one, had subacromial physical discomfort during physiotherapy with the abducted arm that disappeared after removing the plate. We observed a case of loss of reduction after removal of plate and did not observe any other significant complications. Conclusions Surgical treatment of acute AC joint dislocations with AO hook plate, without reconstruction of the coracoclavicular ligaments, offers good results. We observed few complications, allowing the patients to return to work early without sequels.