The Latarjet procedure involves moderate postoperative pain that is well-controlled in most patients, with average pain scores around 2 to 3 out of 10 in the immediate hours after surgery when nerve blocks are used. Pain is most significant during the first two weeks, then gradually decreases as rehabilitation progresses. Most people are largely pain-free by six weeks, though a small percentage experience persistent shoulder pain that can last months or longer.
What the First Few Days Feel Like
The Latarjet is an open surgery where a piece of bone from the front of your shoulder blade (the coracoid process) is transferred and screwed into the socket to prevent future dislocations. Because it involves cutting through muscle and securing bone with screws, the initial soreness is real. But modern pain management has made the early recovery far more tolerable than you might expect.
Most surgeons use a nerve block injected into the neck area before surgery, which numbs the entire shoulder for several hours. In a prospective study of shoulder surgery patients who received this type of block, the average pain score in recovery was just 2.4 out of 10, with scores ranging from 2 to 5. Most patients were discharged the same day, spending only 3 to 8 hours in the hospital. About half needed nothing stronger than a single dose of acetaminophen or ibuprofen afterward, and only a small number required any morphine at all.
The tricky part comes when the nerve block wears off, typically 12 to 24 hours after surgery. This is when pain tends to spike, and most patients describe it as a deep, throbbing ache in the front of the shoulder. Your surgeon will prescribe oral pain medications to bridge this gap, and icing the shoulder frequently helps significantly. The first two nights of sleep are often the hardest, since lying flat puts pressure on the surgical site.
Pain Through the Rehabilitation Timeline
Recovery follows a predictable pattern. According to the rehabilitation protocol used at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the first two weeks focus entirely on minimizing pain and inflammation. You’ll be in a sling, and any shoulder movement during physical therapy is passive, meaning the therapist moves your arm for you. The key rule during this phase: no motion should be forced through pain.
By weeks 3 to 4, passive range of motion continues to increase, but your therapist still avoids pushing into painful ranges. Most patients notice a significant drop in daily pain during this window, though stiffness becomes the more prominent sensation. By week 6, the expectation is that all rehab activities should be pain-free. If they’re not, your therapist will adjust the program rather than push forward.
The later phases of rehab, from roughly weeks 8 through 16, introduce strengthening and eventually sport-specific movements. The milestone for returning to overhead work or sports is straightforward: no complaints of pain or instability. For most people, that point arrives between 4 and 6 months after surgery.
How It Compares to Arthroscopic Repair
If you’ve been offered a Latarjet and are wondering whether a less invasive arthroscopic Bankart repair would hurt less, the answer is somewhat counterintuitive. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that visual analogue pain scores were actually lower in the Latarjet group than in the Bankart group, indicating less postoperative pain overall. The open incision heals relatively quickly, and the bone block fusion creates a mechanically stable shoulder that tends to feel better sooner.
Functional outcomes also favored the Latarjet. Average shoulder function scores were 90.5 for Latarjet patients compared to 82.2 for Bankart patients. Return-to-sport rates reflected this too: 85% of Latarjet patients got back to their pre-injury level of activity, compared to 67% of Bankart patients. So while the idea of open surgery sounds more painful, the data suggests the opposite for longer-term comfort.
Sources of Lingering or Unusual Pain
Most pain after the Latarjet resolves steadily over weeks. But certain complications can cause pain that doesn’t follow that pattern, and it helps to know what they feel like so you can flag them early.
Screw irritation is one of the more common sources of persistent discomfort. The coracoid bone graft is secured with one or two screws, and if a screw head sits prominently, it can rub against the muscle that covers it (the subscapularis) during certain movements. This typically presents as focal tenderness at the front of the shoulder, especially when you rotate your arm outward while it’s at your side. If the screws are the problem, removing them after the graft has healed usually resolves the pain.
Nerve irritation is less common but worth knowing about. The suprascapular nerve runs near the surgical area, and if it’s stretched or compressed, it can cause a dull, aching pain in the upper or back part of the shoulder that sometimes radiates into the neck or down the arm. Interestingly, some nerve injuries from this area are painless and show up only as weakness, so pain isn’t always the signal to watch for.
Graft malposition, where the transferred bone sits slightly off-target or overhangs the joint surface, can accelerate wear on the shoulder cartilage over time. This type of pain develops gradually, sometimes years later, and feels more like arthritis: stiffness, grinding, and aching with activity.
Chronic Pain After Surgery
A systematic review of Latarjet outcomes at a minimum of two years found that persistent shoulder pain was the most commonly reported complication, occurring in 0% to 25.7% of patients depending on the study. That’s a wide range, and it reflects differences in surgical technique, patient selection, and how “persistent pain” was defined. In practice, the majority of Latarjet patients report good to excellent pain outcomes. But the data is honest: a meaningful minority do deal with some ongoing discomfort, even if it’s mild enough not to limit their activities.
Factors that increase the risk of chronic pain include graft resorption (where the transferred bone gradually shrinks), hardware irritation, and the development of early arthritis in the joint. If you had significant cartilage damage before surgery or if your shoulder had been dislocating repeatedly for years, the baseline condition of your joint plays a role in how comfortable it ultimately feels.
What You Can Do About Pain
The most effective pain management starts before you wake up from surgery. Ask your surgical team whether a nerve block will be part of your anesthetic plan, as it makes an enormous difference in the first 12 to 24 hours. After that, staying on top of your pain medication schedule for the first few days (rather than waiting until pain builds) keeps discomfort more manageable.
Icing your shoulder for 15 to 20 minutes several times a day during the first two weeks reduces both pain and swelling. Sleeping in a reclined position, such as in a recliner or propped up with pillows, takes pressure off the surgical site and makes nights more bearable. During physical therapy, communicate clearly about what hurts. The rehab protocol is specifically designed so that each phase should be pain-free before you advance to the next one. Pushing through sharp or increasing pain doesn’t speed recovery; it risks it.