Arthroscopic repair of small and medium-sized rotator cuff tears. Technique and results

ABSTRACT

Introduction: this study describes the technique and results of arthroscopic repair of small and medium-sized rotator cuff tears in a philanthropic hospital linked to an educational institution.Materials and methods: we assessed fifty-seven patients who underwent arthroscopic surgery to treat complete rotator cuff tears (<3 cm) from January to December 2014 (mean age 54.7) and were followed for at least two years (mean follow-up time 147 weeks).Cases evaluated with the UCLA Shoulder Rating Scale after at least two years of follow-up were classified as poor in 1.8% of cases, 15.8% as fair, 52.6% as good, and 29.8% as excellent. Average preoperative and postoperative UCLA scores were 12.4 and 31.7, respectively. Mean values for pain assessed by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) also improved significantly, from 8.6 to 1.9.Results: for patients over age fifty-five, age was positively associated (r = 0.577) with a greater difference in VAS score between preoperative and postoperative evaluations; in other words, older patients experienced less pain after at least two years of follow-up.Conclusion: arthroscopic repair yielded good and excellent results in 82.4% of cases with at least two years of follow-up, especially for patients in the 55+ age group. The technique described proved effective for treating these types of tears, as well as a good low-cost option