{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T22:33:00Z","timestamp":1791325980796,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,5]],"date-time":"2025-10-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759622400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.mdpi.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Anterior shoulder dislocations are common in athletes, particularly in contact sports. Surgical stabilization reduces recurrence, but the optimal timing\u2014early versus delayed\u2014remains uncertain, especially for in-season athletes. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane (2013\u20132023) yielded 945 articles; 15 met the inclusion criteria. Data were charted on procedure type, outcomes, follow-up, patient group, and timing of surgery. Search terms, e.g., \u2018shoulder\u2019, \u2018athlete\u2019, \u2018anterior\u2019 and \u2018shoulder dislocation\u2019, were used in a broad search protocol casting a wide net to maximize the likelihood of capturing all available data. Results: Surgery was superior to conservative care in lowering recurrence and enabling return-to-play, with arthroscopic and combined procedures most effective in high-contact sports. Conservative management carried higher instability risk. Evidence directly comparing early versus delayed surgery was scarce, and therefore inconclusive. Conclusions: Surgical stabilization remains the treatment with better outcomes compared to conservative treatment for young athletes. Still, athletes opt to delay surgery until postseason, with the impact of delaying surgery being unclear. Further research is needed to evaluate early versus delayed surgery regarding recurrence, joint damage, and return to sport.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14197045","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,6]],"date-time":"2025-10-06T15:05:06Z","timestamp":1759763106000},"page":"7045","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The Role of Early and Delayed Surgery in Return to Sport After Anterior Shoulder Dislocation\u2014A Scoping Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-4654-0043","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin Ingvardsen","family":"Vemmelund","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, 9260 Gistrup, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8664-352X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sten","family":"Rasmussen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, 9260 Gistrup, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1750","DOI":"10.1177\/0363546509334591","article-title":"Incidence of glenohumeral instability in collegiate athletics","volume":"37","author":"Owens","year":"2009","journal-title":"Am. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2013-2279","article-title":"Shoulder injuries among US high school athletes, 2005\/2006\u20132011\/2012","volume":"133","author":"Robinson","year":"2014","journal-title":"Pediatrics"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1177\/1941738117709764","article-title":"Epidemiology of Shoulder Dislocations in High School and Collegiate Athletics in the United States: 2004\/2005 Through 2013\/2014","volume":"10","author":"Kraeutler","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sports Health"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1168","DOI":"10.1177\/0363546506295179","article-title":"The incidence and characteristics of shoulder instability at the United States Military Academy","volume":"35","author":"Owens","year":"2007","journal-title":"Am. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"442","DOI":"10.1177\/0363546513510391","article-title":"Epidemiology of primary anterior shoulder dislocation requiring closed reduction in Ontario, Canada","volume":"42","author":"Leroux","year":"2014","journal-title":"Am. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1421","DOI":"10.1111\/os.12767","article-title":"Injury Mechanism of Acute Anterior Shoulder Dislocation Associated with Glenoid and Greater Tuberosity Fractures: A Study Based on Fracture Morphology","volume":"12","author":"Dai","year":"2020","journal-title":"Orthop. Surg."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Kraeutler, M.J., Wilson Belk, J., Carver, T.J., McCarty, E.C., and Khodaee, M. (2024, November 14). Traumatic Primary Anterior Glenohumeral Joint Dislocation in Sports: A Systematic Review of Operative versus Nonoperative Management. Available online: http:\/\/journals.lww.com\/acsm-csmr."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"336","DOI":"10.1177\/1941738116651956","article-title":"A Clinical Review of Return-to-Play Considerations After Anterior Shoulder Dislocation","volume":"8","author":"Watson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sports Health"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23259671211032239","DOI":"10.1177\/23259671211032239","article-title":"Athletes with Anterior Shoulder Instability: A Prospective Study on Player Perceptions of Injury and Treatment","volume":"9","author":"Jobin","year":"2021","journal-title":"Orthop. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jse.2005.09.014","article-title":"One hundred eighteen Bristow-Latarjet repairs for recurrent anterior dislocation of the shoulder prospectively followed for fifteen years: Study II-the evolution of dislocation arthropathy","volume":"15","author":"Hovelius","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Shoulder Elb. Surg."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1233","DOI":"10.1007\/s11845-019-01986-w","article-title":"Arthroscopic anterior shoulder stabilisation in overhead sport athletes: 5-year follow-up","volume":"188","author":"Clesham","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ir. J. Med. Sci."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23259671211008274","DOI":"10.1177\/23259671211008274","article-title":"Arthroscopic Bankart Repair and Open Bristow Procedure in the Treatment of Anterior Shoulder Instability with Osseous Glenoid Lesions in Collision Athletes","volume":"9","author":"Tasaki","year":"2021","journal-title":"Orthop. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"260","DOI":"10.1186\/s40001-023-01160-0","article-title":"Arthroscopic Bankart repair versus conservative treatment for first-time traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"28","author":"Hu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Eur. J. Med. Res."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1166","DOI":"10.1177\/0363546521996381","article-title":"Arthroscopic Bankart Repair Versus Immobilization for First Episode of Anterior Shoulder Dislocation Before the Age of 25: A Randomized Controlled Trial","volume":"49","author":"Hardy","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"661","article-title":"Clinical outcomes of anterior glenohumeral joint dislocation","volume":"20","author":"Afifi","year":"2022","journal-title":"NeuroQuantology"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1693","DOI":"10.1016\/j.arthro.2015.03.013","article-title":"Combined Arthroscopic Bankart Repair and Coracoid Process Transfer to Anterior Glenoid for Shoulder Dislocation in Rugby Players: Evaluation Based on Ability to Perform Sport-Specific Movements Effectively","volume":"31","author":"Tasaki","year":"2015","journal-title":"Arthroscopy"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1498","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2022-106422","article-title":"Effectiveness of combined surgical and exercise-based interventions following primary traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"57","author":"Chiddarwar","year":"2023","journal-title":"Br. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"178","DOI":"10.1007\/s00167-022-07028-w","article-title":"High failure rate after conservative treatment for recurrent shoulder dislocation without subjective apprehension on physical examination","volume":"31","author":"Do","year":"2023","journal-title":"Knee Surg. Sports Traumatol. Arthrosc."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1186\/s40798-019-0203-2","article-title":"Management of primary anterior shoulder dislocations: A narrative review","volume":"5","author":"Hasebroock","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sports Med. Open"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1943","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jse.2017.04.013","article-title":"Mid-term to long-term outcome of the open Bankart repair for recurrent traumatic anterior dislocation of the shoulder","volume":"26","author":"Neviaser","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Shoulder Elb. Surg."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1408","DOI":"10.1177\/0363546518759730","article-title":"Open Latarjet Procedures Produce Better Outcomes in Competitive Athletes Compared with Recreational Athletes: A Clinical Comparative Study of 106 Athletes Aged Under 30 Years","volume":"46","author":"Baverel","year":"2018","journal-title":"Am. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"545","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csm.2016.05.002","article-title":"Return to Play Following Anterior Shoulder Dislocation and Stabilization Surgery","volume":"35","author":"Donohue","year":"2016","journal-title":"Clin. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1177\/2325967115S00049","article-title":"Treatment and results of combined mild bone loss instability with the modified laterjet","volume":"3","author":"Yang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Orthop. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Rockwood, C.A., and Matsen, F.A. (1990). The Shoulder, Elsevier."}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/14\/19\/7045\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,6]],"date-time":"2025-10-06T15:27:46Z","timestamp":1759764466000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/14\/19\/7045"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,5]]},"references-count":24,"journal-issue":{"issue":"19","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]}},"alternative-id":["jcm14197045"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcm14197045","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0383"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0383","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,5]]}}}