ORIGINAL ARTICLE Management of Failed SLAP Repair: A Systematic Review Ibrahim M. Nadeem, BHSc & Seline Vancolen, BHSc & Nolan S. Horner, MD & Tim Leroux, MD, MEd, FRCSC & Bashar Alolabi, MD, MSc, FRCSC & Moin Khan, MD, MSc, FRCSC Received: 11 February 2019/Accepted: 7 June 2019 * Hospital for Special Surgery 2019 Abstract Background: Superior labrum anterior to poste- rior (SLAP) tears are a very common shoulder injury. The success rate of SLAP repair, particularly in the throwing athlete, has been variable in the literature. Questions/Pur- poses: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the reported post-operative outcomes of management tech- niques for failed SLAP repair. Methods: The electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, and PubMed were searched for relevant studies, and pertinent data was abstracted. Only studies reporting outcomes of management techniques for failed SLAP repairs were included. Results: A total of 10 studies (levels III to IV) evaluating 176 patients were in- cluded in this systematic review. Most subjects were male (86.6%), with a mean age at surgery of 36.3 years (range, 17 to 67 years). The most commonly reported reason for failed SLAP repair was persistent post-operative mechanical symptoms after index SLAP repair. Common techniques used in the management of failed SLAP repair include biceps tenodesis and revision SLAP repair. Return to activity was significantly higher after biceps tenodesis than after arthroscopic revision SLAP repair. However, compared to primary SLAP repair, biceps tenodesis demonstrated no statistically significant differences in return to work rates. Complications reported in one case were resolved post-op- eratively, and there was no reported revision failure or reop- eration after revision surgery. Conclusion: The most common reason for failed SLAP repair is persistent post- operative mechanical symptoms. Revision surgery for failed SLAP repair has a high success rate. The rate of return to activity after biceps tenodesis was significantly higher than the rate after revision SLAP repair. Large high-quality ran- domized trials are required to provide definitive evidence to support the optimal treatment for failed SLAP repair. Keywords shoulder . superior labrum anterior to posterior tears . SLAP . labrum . glenoid . athletes Introduction Superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) tears are increasingly diagnosed, particularly in the throwing ath- lete [2]. “SLAP” tears were first described by Andrews et al. in 1985, but the term was later coined by Snyder et al. in 1990. “SLAP tear” describes the pathology of the superior labrum and the origin of the biceps tendon [1, 21]. SLAP tears are present in up to 26% of shoul- der arthroscopy procedures, and arthroscopic SLAP re- pair has been a commonly performed treatment [8]. A recent statewide study in New York found a 464% increase in the number of SLAP repairs performed from 2002 to 2010—an increase approximately threefold greater than all other ambulatory shoulder procedures evaluated over the same period [13]. Additionally, there has been a significant increase in the age of patients being treated with arthroscopic SLAP repairs, despite evidence suggesting that SLAP repairs in patients over the age of 36 years is associated with higher rates of failure [13, 17]. A failed SLAP repair is defined as post-operative pain, stiff- ness, and/or consistent pre-operative symptoms (not associated with concomitant pathology) that do not resolve post-operatively or resolves post-operatively and returns at a later date [ 17, 25]. In general, mechanisms of failure for SLAP repair are categorized as DOI 10.1007/s11420-019-09700-3 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-019-09700-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. I. M. Nadeem, BHSc : S. Vancolen, BHSc : B. Alolabi, MD, MSc, FRCSC : M. Khan, MD, MSc, FRCSC Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada N. S. Horner, MD : B. Alolabi, MD, MSc, FRCSC : M. Khan, MD, MSc, FRCSC (*) Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, McMaster University, St Joseph’ s Healthcare Hamilton, 50 Charlton Avenue East, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 4A6, Canada e-mail: khanmm2@mcmaster.ca Published online: 19 July 2019 / HSSJ (2020) 16:261– 271