BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to determine the pre-operative factors that are associated with reparability of the large-sized and massive rotator cuff tears.MethodsSixty-six patients were included in this prognostic study. Demographic data, radiographic and MRI parameters were collected. Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair was performed for all included patient. Complete rotator cuff repair was achieved when the tendon covered up at least 50% of the anatomical footprint. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was analysed to define the cut-off level of each significant factor.ResultsEleven large-sized rotator cuff tears and fifty-five massive rotator cuff tears were defined from MRI. Fifty-four patients were in the complete repair group, and twelve patients were in the partial repair group. The mean duration between MRI and surgery of 5.5 weeks. Reparability was correlated with age, mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) tear size, rotator cuff arthropathy, superior migration of humeral head, fatty infiltration and atrophy of the supraspinatus muscle, and fatty infiltration of infraspinatus muscle (p < 0.05). The ROC curve defined a cut-off level of each predicting factor which included age of ≥65 years, mediolateral tear size of ≥36 mm, anteroposterior tear size of ≥22 mm, Hamada’s rotator cuff arthropathy of ≥class2, acromiohumeral interval of ≥6 mm, ≥stage3 supraspinatus fatty infiltration, the presence of supraspinatus muscle atrophy, and ≥ stage1 infraspinatus fatty infiltration. In multivariated regression analysis, age, acromiohumeral interval, and anteroposterior tear size were statistically associated with the reparability. The intra- and inter-observer reliabilities were moderate to excellent.ConclusionAge, ML tear size, AP tear size, rotator cuff arthropathy, superior migration of humeral head, fatty infiltration of supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles and supraspinatus muscle atrophy all correlate with reparability of large to massive rotator cuff tear.

Neglected posterior shoulder dislocation is a difficult condition in terms of decision making and surgical technique. Not only the bony deformity but also the soft tissue and patient's underlying disease are of concern. Whether the poor results are associated with a time delay or the treatment method is not clear yet. To date, there is neither a consensus nor treatment guidelines. We describe an arthroscopically assisted reduction and open McLaughlin procedure. The advantage of this procedure is preservation of the soft tissue of the anterior part of the shoulder during the surgical reduction technique for chronic neglected posterior shoulder dislocation cases.

A femoral-sided avulsion fracture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a rare and challenging condition. Most reported cases have occurred in childhood or adolescence. Many techniques of ACL repair have been reported, and in recent years, techniques in arthroscopic surgery have been developed and have become ever more popular with orthopaedic surgeons. We created a technique of arthroscopic ACL repair with suture anchor fixation for a femoral-sided ACL avulsion fracture. This technique saves the natural ACL stump. It is available for cases in which creation of a tibial tunnel is not allowed. Moreover, it does not require a skin incision for fixation on the far femoral cortex and, therefore, does not require a second operation to remove the fixation device. The arthroscopic technique also has a good cosmetic outcome.

Instrument breakage during arthroscopic rotator cuff repair is a rare complication of shoulder arthroscopy, especially when the broken instrument has been left inside the tendon part of the rotator cuff. We propose a combined arthroscopy and fluoroscopic guidance technique to ease the removal of the broken instrument and repair the torn rotator cuff after removal.