BACKGROUND: The incidence of reinjuries due to glenohumeral instability and the major risk factors for primary anterior shoulder dislocation in youth rugby players have been unclear.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence, mechanisms, and intrinsic risk factors of shoulder dislocation in elite high-school rugby union teams during the 2012 season.
METHODS: A total of 378 male rugby players from 7 high-school teams were investigated by use of self-administered preseason and postseason questionnaires.
RESULTS: The prevalence of a history of shoulder dislocation was 14.8%, and there were 21 events of primary shoulder dislocation of the 74 overall shoulder injuries that were sustained during the season (3.2 events per 1000 player-hours of match exposure). During the season, 54.3% of the shoulders with at least one episode of shoulder dislocation had reinjury. This study also indicated that the persistence of glenohumeral instability might affect the player's self-assessed condition, regardless of the incidence during the current season. By a multivariate logistic regression method, a history of shoulder dislocation on the opposite side before the season was found to be a risk factor for contralateral primary shoulder dislocation (odds ratio, 3.56; 95% confidence interval, 1.27-9.97; P = .02).
CONCLUSIONS: High-school rugby players with a history of shoulder dislocation are not playing at full capacity and also have a significant rate of reinjury as well as a high risk of dislocating the other shoulder. These findings may be helpful in deciding on the proper treatment of primary anterior shoulder dislocation in young rugby players.