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Background: Successful arthroscopic repair of symptomatic superior labral tears in young athletes has been well documented. Superior labral repair in patients older than 40 years is controversial, with concerns for residual postoperative pain, stiffness, and higher rates of revision surgery., Purpose: To analyze the published data on the surgical treatment of superior labral injuries in patients aged ≥40 years, including those with concomitant injuries to the rotator cuff., Study Design: Systematic review., Methods: A systematic review of the literature was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The MEDLINE database via PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched for articles related to superior labrum anterior-posterior (SLAP) tears. Studies were included if they met the following criteria: the study contained at least 1 group of patients who had undergone arthroscopic repair of a type II or IV SLAP lesion with a minimum 2-year follow-up, objective and/or functional scoring systems were used to evaluate postoperative outcomes, and the mean patient age was ≥40 years for at least 1 treatment arm or subgroup analysis. Studies were excluded if the article was a review or if the article included data for SLAP type I, III, or V to X tears or Bankart lesions., Results: While several authors reported equivalent outcomes of SLAP repair in patients both older than 40 years and younger than 40 years, others demonstrated significantly higher failure rates in the older cohort. Decreased patient satisfaction and increasing complications, including postoperative stiffness and reoperations, occur at higher rates as the patient age increases. The literature demonstrates that biceps tenotomy and tenodesis are reliable alternatives to SLAP repair and that biceps tenotomy is a viable revision procedure for failed SLAP repair. With concomitant rotator cuff tears, the evidence favors debridement or biceps tenotomy over SLAP repair., Conclusion: While studies show that good outcomes can be obtained with SLAP repair in an older cohort of patients, age older than 40 years and workers' compensation status are independent risk factors for increased surgical complications. The cumulative evidence supports labral debridement or biceps tenotomy over labral repair when an associated rotator cuff injury is present., (© 2014 The Author(s).)

Purpose: The popliteofibular ligament has recently received recognition as a distinct structure with a significant contribution to posterolateral stability of the knee. The popliteofibular ligament plays a key role in stabilizing the posterolateral corner of the knee by limiting posterior translation, varus angulation, and external rotation (coupled and primary). During arthroscopic procedures, the senior author (R.D.P.) has observed vertically oriented fibers descending from the inferior surface of the intra-articular portion of the popliteus tendon at the popliteal hiatus. This study was performed to determine if these fibers were actually the popliteofibular ligament., Type of Study: This is an anatomic study using a cadaveric knee model to identify the popliteofibular ligament both arthroscopically and through gross anatomic dissection., Methods: Eight fresh human cadaveric knees were examined arthroscopically and the vertically oriented fibers from the inferior surface of the popliteus tendon at the popliteal hiatus were identified and marked with a suture using an arthroscopic suture passer. A dissection of the lateral side of the knee was then performed to identify the marked structure., Results: In all specimens, the dissection revealed that the fibers identified and marked arthroscopically had firm attachments to the popliteus tendon superiorly and inserted distally into the posterior aspect of the fibular head. The labeled structure was, therefore, the popliteofibular ligament. The popliteofibular ligament bifurcated distally with 2 insertion sites onto the fibular head., Conclusions: From this study, we concluded that the vertically oriented fibers descending from the inferior surface of the intra-articular portion of the popliteus tendon at the popliteal hiatus identified during arthroscopy are indeed those of the popliteofibular ligament. It is hoped that this knowledge will lead to improved outcomes in the treatment of injuries to the posterolateral corner of the knee.