Arthroscopically Enhanced "Miniapproach" to Rotator Cuff Repair

Abstract

The results of rotator cuff repair through a lateral deltoid splitting approach combined with arthroscopic subacromial decompression are presented in 18 patients with an average followup of 46 months. Sixteen patients (88%) scored good or excellent on the University of California at Los Angeles shoulder rating scale. Pain scores improved from an average of 1.6 to 7.6. Function scores improved from 2.5 to 8.4. Two patients had poor results; both had workers' compensation cases pending. One patient with a poor result had 2 complications: superficial infection and failure of repair that required reoperation. No other complications were encountered. Seventeen patients (94%) were satisfied with their results. This surgical technique, when used for patients with chronic impingement and rotator cuff tear, provides acceptable clinical results with minimal morbidity.

Long-term survivorship and outcomes after surgical repair of full-thickness rotator cuff tears

“…Published reports of rotator cuff repair failures are either reported as cuff retear rates or as patients who elected to proceed with revision surgery. 3,8,14,16,26 Posada et al found that 5 of 60 patients had a retear, for a rate of 8.0%, but the study did not indicate whether these 5 patients elected to have revision surgery. 25 Fuchs et al 8 reported a retear rate of 13%.…”

Difference in outcome of shoulder surgery between workers’ compensation and nonworkers’ compensation populations

“…1. In terms of the types of operations performed, there were nine studies for acromioplasties or other shoulder arthroplasties [8,9,12,14,16,17,30,32,42], eight for rotator cuff repairs [6,18,20,25,28,35,39,41], seven for shoulder decompression [3,9,10,19,22,33,34], two for all types of shoulder operations [38,44], one each for treatment of scapula winging and os acromiale [1], and one for capsulolabral augmentation [2].…”

Functional outcome and structural integrity following mini-open repair of large and massive rotator cuff tears: A 3-5 year follow-up study

“…27,29,30 Excellent or good clinical results, significant improvement of the quality of life, and patient satisfaction rates as high as 94% have established the above technique as the ''gold standard'' for the management of rotator cuff tears for a number of years. However, our knowledge on the structural condition of the rotator cuff over time following mini-open repair and its potential correlation with the clinical outcome is far less detailed.…”

“…1,3,15,19,32 Despite the exact technique used (open, mini-open or arthroscopic), 11,37 the short-and long-term clinical results are very promising. 14,16,25,29 Although the clinical benefits of rotator cuff repair are well established, there are still questions on the factors affecting the integrity of the repair over time as well as on the impact of a recurrent defect on the clinical outcome. 4,7,14,18,21,25 The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical and structural results following mini-open repair of large and massive rotator cuff tears, using clinical evaluation and ultrasound imaging at a minimum of 3 years following the index procedure.…”