Alternative soft tissue repair techniques for glenohumeral instability

Surgical treatment of glenohumeral anteroinferior instability in shoulders with limited to subcritical glenoid bone loss remains a controversial subject. High recurrence rates reported after isolated arthroscopic Bankart repair have led to the development of alternative soft tissue techniques that can be used as standalone procedures or in association, allowing for a tailored approach to the bipolar bone loss and the dynamic interplay between glenoid and humeral lesions. These techniques aim to provide more robust anterior stabilization as compared to isolated Bankart repair, without the risks and complications classically associated with bone block procedures. In the past 20 years, several techniques with low recurrence and complication rates and promising clinical outcomes have emerged. This paper aims to address the main current soft tissue technical procedures and their published clinical results.