Your surgery will be done as an outpatient procedure, which means you come to the hospital and go home on the same day as the operation.  Your operation is done under regional anesthesia, which means the shoulder is frozen, and you are given intravenous sedation.  No general anesthesia is required.  The procedure is done arthroscopically, which means a few small incisions are made about the shoulder, which are less than 1 cm in length each.  The labrum is repaired to the glenoid bone by suturing it.  A small suture anchor (1 cm x 3.5 mm piece of plastic) is inserted into the bone and sutures attached to the anchor are passed through the labrum tissue.  A knot is tied, repairing the labrum securely to the bone, which stabilizes the shoulder and repairs the labrum.  If your shoulder is unstable and the labrum is not torn, the shoulder capsule will be tightened to prevent future instability with the use of multiple sutures placed arthroscopically. 

After surgery, your arm is placed in a shoulder immobilizer (sling), which you use for 4 weeks.  It is recommended that you sleep in the sling for a total of 6 weeks after surgery, but you only have to wear it during the day for 4 weeks after surgery.  Physical therapy starts at 4 weeks, and you begin to regain range of motion.  Full range of motion is regained by 2-3 months after surgery, although it can take longer for some cases.  Light weight-training can usually begin at 2 months after surgery, and full return to all activities is usually at 6 months after surgery.

Risks of surgery include, but are not limited to, anesthesia, infection, re-operation, stiffness, recurrent instability, nerve or blood vessel injury and pain.