Acromioclavicular third degree dislocation: Surgical treatment in acute cases

The management of acute Rockwood type III acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) dislocation remains controversial, and the debate about whether patients should be conservatively or surgically treated continues. This study aims to compare conservative and surgical treatment of acute type III ACJ injuries in active sport participants (  0.05), whereas ACJI results favoured the surgical group (group A, 72.4; group B, 87.9; P < 0.05). All measurements of radiographic evaluation were significantly reduced in the surgical group compared with the conservative group. In group A, we detected calcifications in 30% of patients; in group B we detected two cases of moderate osteolysis and calcifications in 70% of patients. Although better subjective and radiographic results were achieved in surgically treated patients, traditional objective scores did not show significant differences between the two groups. Our results cannot support routine use of surgery to treat type III ACJ dislocations.