Results of arthroscopic treatment of posterosuperior glenoid impingement in tennis players.

Twenty-eight tennis players with symptomatic posterosuperior glenoid impingement limiting their participation underwent arthroscopic debridement of the supraspinatus tendon and glenoid lesions associated with this diagnosis after nonoperative treatment had failed. The dominant extremity was affected in all patients; the patients' average age was 26.9 years. Eighteen patients participated at the highest level of competition for their age, and the remaining patients participated at the intermediate level. Patients were evaluated at an average of 45.7 months after surgery by physical examination, an activities questionnaire, a subjective result questionnaire, and a questionnaire regarding their return to activity. Postoperatively, the patients averaged 26.9 of 30 possible points on the activities questionnaire. Twenty-three of the patients were subjectively satisfied with the surgical result. Twenty-two patients had returned to tennis. Despite their return, 20 of the 22 patients reported some persistent pain with participation. To our knowledge, this is the first report detailing the results of operative treatment for posterosuperior glenoid impingement in a population limited to tennis players. Even though the results are encouraging in terms of the high number of patients returning to tennis, the effects of this persistent pain with activity, although diminished in severity, on long-term participation is unknown.