[Resection of the acromial end of clavicula in acromioclavicular joint arthrosis].

Arthroses of the acromioclavicular joint mainly occur after trauma and may be the cause of pain in the shoulder region which is difficult to treat. Other possible causes are metastases, hyperparathyroidism, tuberculosis and osteolysis whose pathogenetic mechanism is still unknown. If all conservative treatment methods have been tried without success, lateral resection of the clavicula, first described in 1941 by Gurd and Mumford, is the method of choice. Some of the results obtained by the present authors with 15 patients (of whom 11 were followed up) are presented and compared with those obtained by other authors. Since the results are altogether very good, this operation, which is technically simple to perform, is recommended for arthroses of the acromioclavicular joint of any etiology. In cases with Tossy III ruptures of the joint the procedure described by Weaver and Dunn can be performed in addition.