Thermal capsulorrhaphy for shoulder instability.

Although thermal capsulorrhaphy is a useful tool in the arthroscopic management of shoulder instability, there are limits to the amount of capsular tissue that can be shortened before collagen is significantly weakened and denatured to a point that would be detrimental to healing. The real goal of thermal capsulorrhaphy, therefore, is to enhance other arthroscopically performed stabilization procedures, further improving the results that could be obtained with either procedure alone. When used in the proper manner for the correct indications, thermal capsulorrhaphy can be an effective adjunct in treating shoulder instability arthroscopically.