Purpose: The purpose of this study was to review primary traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation in the 40 years and older to determine the incidence of recurrence, rotator cuff injury and associated fractures. Materials and Methods: From May, 1991 to October, 1998, seventeen patients were available to participate in the study. The average age was 55 years(range, 40 to 75 years). Follow-up averaged 27 months(range, 12 to 48 months). There were 12 men and 5 women. 10 right and 7 left shoulders were involved. Any participant with a history of shoulder pain and limitation of motion was excluded from the study. Each shoulder was evaluated with UCLA shoulder functional assessment. Results: The overall results were excellent in 9 patients(52.9%), good in 3 patients(17 .6%), fair in 3 patients(17.6%), and poor in 2 patients(11.7%). Surgical treatment of the associated rotator cuff and greater tuberosity fracture injuries resulted in 5 patients with excellent(55.6%), 3 patients with good(33.3%) and I patient with poor(11.1 %) and Nonsurgical treatment of the associated injuries resulted in 2 patients with excellent(33.3%), 3 patients with fair(50%), 1 patient with poor(16.7%)(P=0.025). Conclusion : Our findings on small number of patients suggest that the diagnosis of a rotator cuff and other pathologies should be approached aggressively by an MRI, CT arthrogram if significant pain and weakness are still present and early surgical repair of rotator cuff and greater tuberosity can lead to restoration of shoulder function and better outcomes in selected patients.