J Korean Orthop Assoc.  2017 Oct;52(5):371-377. 10.4055/jkoa.2017.52.5.371.

Is There a Clinically Important Superior Labrum Anterior to Posterior (SLAP) Lesion?

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Institute of Wonkwang Medical Science, Iksan, Korea. serina@wonkwang.ac.kr

Abstract

Superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion is a tear of the superior labrum, which starts posteriorly and extends anteriorly to include the anchor of the biceps tendon to the superior labrum. Symptoms of SLAP tear may include pain or instability. Recently, with the development of arthroscopy, the diagnosis and treatment of SLAP lesion have been made a lot. However, the diagnosis of clinically relevant SLAP tears remains challenging because of the lack of specific examination findings and the frequency of concomitant shoulder lesion. And there is still controversy regarding the treatment. Accordingly, proper treatment is important through accurate evaluation of whether or not it is a clinically important SLAP lesion.

Keyword

superior labrum anterior to posterior lesion; long head of biceps tendon

MeSH Terms

Arthroscopy
Diagnosis
Shoulder
Tears
Tendons

Figure

  • Figure 1 Coronal T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scan of a left shoulder demonstrating the typical appearance of a type 2 superior labrum anterior to posterior tear, with high signal intensity under the superior labrum and extension of contrast dye between the superior glenoid and labrum.

  • Figure 2 (A) Arthroscopic photograph of a type 2 superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion. (B) Type II SLAP lesion was repaired with bio-suture anchor fixation.


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