Acromioclavicular joint dislocation is a common shoulder injury, which causes pain, swelling, and limited lifting and abduction of the shoulder joint. The treatment of acromioclavicular dislocation often requires surgery. At present, there are many types and methods of surgery, mainly divided into two categories: rigid fixation and elastic fixation. The most common type of rigid fixation is the clavicular hook plate, which is firmly fixed and conducive to the early functional exercise and recovery of patients, but the postoperative complications are more common. The elastic fixation focuses on ligament repair. Despite the complications are less, it is easy to cause reduction loss and joint dysfunction due to its high technical difficulty and impractical fixation effect. Although the treatment methods are numerous, they have their own advantages and disadvantages, and there is still no certain fixation method recognized as gold standard.

To compare the efficacy and safety of Ortho-bridge system versus clavicular hook plate in the treatment of Rockwood type Ⅲ-Ⅳ acromioclavicular joint dislocation.

From December 2014 to October 2018, 46 patients with Rockwood type Ⅲ-Ⅳ acromioclavicular joint dislocations received operation in our hospital, and the clinical data were retrospectively analyzed and the patients were followed up, including 23 cases of Ortho-bridge system (OBS) group and 23 cases of clavicular hook plate group. The clinical evaluation included operation time, bleeding volume, incision length, postoperative complications, recovery time, Constant score at 12 months after operation.

The mean operation time was (38.48±9.82) min in the OBS group, and (59.57±11.91) min in the clavicular hook plate group. The intraoperative blood loss was (33.70 ± 8.95) ml in the OBS group, and (57.17±15.73) ml in the clavicular hook group. The incision length was (4.34±0.64) cm in the OBS group, and (8.91±1.12) cm in the clavicular hook plate group. The average time to resume work was (12.17±2.39) weeks in the OBS group and (15.78±2.79) weeks in the clavicular hook plate group. The Constant score of 3 months after operation was (80.74±3.60) in the OBS group, and (76.78±3.58) in the clavicular hook plate group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05) . The Constant score of 12 months after operation was (90.26±2.58) in OBS group, and (88.87±3.09) in the clavicular hook plate group. Each group had 2 cases of postoperative complications, and there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05) .

The Ortho-bridge system and clavicular hook plate were both effective in the treatment of Rockwood type Ⅲ-Ⅳ acromioclavicular joint dislocation. However, Ortho-bridge system has the advantages over clavicular hook plate in reducing the operation time, blood loss, incision length, and time to resume work, which is a new option for the treatment of Rockwood type Ⅲ-Ⅳ acromioclavicular dislocation.