SLAP tear and biceps tenodesis

[restewart1017]

Hi! I'm writing for advice. I'm a professional aerialist, and I've just been diagnosed with a SLAP tear with involvement of the biceps tendon. My doctor is recommending biceps tenodesis, wherein the remaining connection of the tendon to the labrum is severed and the tendon is tacked to the head of the humerus. He seems very optimistic about it, and I believe him, but part of me is a bit concerned with radically altering the physiology of the shoulder like that.

 

Does anyone have experience with returning to ring work after an injury and/or surgery like this? My goal for this year was to have an aerial straps routine (movements are similar to high-level ring work; planches, handstands, etc.)- obviously, that's not gonna happen in 2013, but I'm wondering if it will *ever* be a possibility for me again.

 

Any advice or stories you guys have would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

~Rachel

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

I can't answer your question, Rachel, but I feel for you and the uncertainty this injury causes to your future.

I think you should ask for a second opinion from a reputed orthopedic surgeon that specializes in upper limbs.

Good luck with your recovery

[Joseph Blazuk]

Your surgeon is going to know way better than anyone on this board.  There are 4 characterized types of SLAP lesions, some are stable (types 1 and 3), some unstable (2 and 4) - yours sounds like type 4.  Most will not get better without surgery - unless you are old and inactive in which case outcomes are close to the same.  Stable lesions are repaired with arthroscopic debridement, unstable with reattachment.  That's about where my surgical knowledge ends.

 

You can ask your surgeon what other types of surgical correction he's seen utilized, why he choses to do it the way he does, and what sorts of outcomes he's seen.  A second opinion from another surgeon is certainly valuable but if a different surgeon does something differently, it's not necessarily better or worse.  Just focus on expected (realistic) outcomes and recovery times.