[Chronic scapulo-humeral instability in children].

: The recurrent dislocation of the shoulder is a rare condition during childhood, and it should benefit from an early treatment in order to prevent secondary lesions of the humeral head from appearing. Osteoarthritis in adulthood is a potential complication of this disease. A number of 10 children (5 boys and 5 girls) were treated in our department between 1989 and 1998; 8 of them had the anterior type of dislocation, while 2 children had the posterior type. All children were older than 10. We performed the anterior Bankart procedure in 6 children, the posterior Bankart procedure in 3 cases and Putti-Platt procedure in 2 children, respectively. Surgery was followed by casting for 3 weeks and physical therapy afterwards. We obtained very good results in 4/6 cases. Recurrence appeared in 2 cases--one of them failed to respond again to surgery, the other one refused reintervention. We conclude that a simple and well performed surgical procedure is recommended in children, followed by physical therapy. Psychotherapy can be required if a voluntary component is implicated in producing the dislocation.