Clinical Safety of the 5 O'clock Portal in Shoulder Arthroscopy: A Prospective Study

Background The present study aimed to determine the rate of clinically significant neurovascular complications associated with the routine use of the 5 o’clock portal during arthroscopic Bankart repair. Methods Forty-eight consecutive patients underwent arthroscopic Bankart repair with the use of the 5 o’clock portal. These patients were followed at 2 weeks and 6 weeks postoperatively for subjective signs of neurovascular injury (i.e. numbness and tingling) as well as objective signs (i.e. intraoperative bleeding, radial pulse, capillary refill, sensation, motor strength, haematoma and oedema). Results Two out of 48 patients (4.2%) experienced transient neurological symptoms in an ulnar nerve distribution, which resolved by 6 weeks. There was no occurrence of clinically significant injury to the axillary nerve, axillary artery, musculocutaneous nerve, lateral cord of the brachial plexus or cephalic vein. Conclusions No clinically detectable neurovascular injuries were associated with the use of the 5 o’clock shoulder portal during Bankart repair.