Shoulder laxity and traumatic shoulder instability in professional rugby players

Objective This study aimed to see whether the risk of shoulder dislocation is associated with innate shoulder laxity, in professional rugby players. Methodology We performed a pilot study where we validated techniques we used in the study and subsequently gained ethics committee approval. We visited all the premiership rugby clubs in England and assessed 169 professional rugby players with no history of shoulder instability and 46 players with clinical instability symptoms in one shoulder. We assessed shoulder laxity by means of clinical evaluation, questionnaires and ultrasound. Previous studies have shown no difference in shoulder laxity in left and right shoulders in normal individuals. We therefore compared the laxity in the uninjured shoulder of players with a previous history of dislocation, with the shoulders of players with no history of shoulder injury. Data was analysed by unpaired t tests. Results The results showed there was no significant difference between the left and right shoulders in players with no history of instability (p>0.05). Players with a history of instability had a significantly higher shoulder translation in their normal shoulder than uninjured players (p