Objective: To investigate the role of total arthroscopy in the treatment of traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation in the elderly and its effect on the medium and long-term recovery. Methods: Ninety-six patients with traumatic recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation combined with rotator cuff injury were selected from the joint surgery department of our hospital from January 2019 to April 2020. All patients underwent Bankart repair combined with suture bridge technology. Arthroscopy was used in the minimally invasive group (50 cases), and open surgery was used in the open group (46 cases). Observation indicators included perioperative conditions, follow-up indicators and imaging evaluation. Results: The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, time out of bed and length of hospital stay in the minimally invasive group were significantly lower than those in the open group (P < 0.05).At the last follow-up, the scores of both groups were significantly improved, and the scores of spinal pain and function in the minimally invasive group were significantly better than those in the open group (P < 0.05); the incidence of adverse reactions in the minimally invasive group was significantly lower than that in the open group (P < 0.05).The shoulder flexion and external rotation angles in the minimally invasive group were significantly better than those in the open group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Arthroscopic suture bridge technique can effectively restore the range of motion of shoulder joint, relieve shoulder pain obviously, and the probability of mid- and long-term recurrent dislocation is obviously lower, which has high clinical application value.