ABSTRACT
Objective:To evaluate the curative effect of arthroscopic long head of biceps tendon (LHBT) transfer to reconstruct shoulder superior capsule for repairing massive rotator cuff tears.Methods:A retrospective case-control study was conducted on clinical data of 64 patients with massive rotator cuff tears admitted to Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital of Tongji University between December 2017 to January 2019. There were 26 males and 38 females, with the age of 50-75 years [(62.5±4.8)years]. All patients were treated by arthroscopic superior capsular reconstruction with LHBT. The shoulder range of motion in flexion, abduction, external rotation, acromiohumeral distance, visual analogue scale (VAS), Constant-Murley score and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score were evaluated and recorded before operation and at the last follow-up. The MRI was used to evaluate the integrity of the reconstructed structure at the last follow-up and rotator cuff re-tear rate. Postoperative complications were detected.Results:All patients were followed up for 13-25 months [(18.2±4.3)months]. At the last follow-up, the shoulder range of motion was (149.5±7.8)° in flexion, (162.0±6.6)° in abduction, and (60.6±11.8)° in external rotation; the acromiohumeral distance was (7.4±0.6)cm, the VAS was 1.0(0.0, 1.0)points, the Constant-Murley score was (90.5±2.6)points, the ASES was (90.8±4.2)points, which were significantly improved compared with those before operation [flextion: (73.8±5.3)°, abduction: (85.8±5.5)°, external rotation: (34.3±5.8)°, acromiohumeral distance: (5.9±0.8)cm, VAS: 6.5(6.0, 7.0)points, Constant-Murley score: (41.8±5.4)points, ASES: (41.4±6.1)points, respectively]( P<0.01). of all, 56 patients had intact reconstruction structure at the last follow-up, 7 patient with smalll retears in the reconstruction were not revised, and 1 patient underwent revision operation after reconstruction failure. The retear rate after rotator cuff repair was 13% (8/64). There were no obvious surgical complications after operation, with the incision free from infection. Conclusion:Arthroscopic superior capsular reconstruction with LHBT for repairing massive rotator cuff is safe and reliable, which can effectively relieve the pain of shoulder joint, recover the function and improve the joint mobility.