A middle or long-term follow-up study on surgical repair of rotator cuff tears / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the result of open rotator cuff repair and to identify potential preoperative or intraoperative factors that could affect the outcome.Methods 43 cases(44 shoulders)with rotator cuff tear who undergone open repair surgery between May 1987 and October 2002 were retrospectively studied.There were 31 shoulders ruptured in supraspinatus, 9 shoulders in supraspinatus and infraspinatus,3 shoulders in supraspinatus and subscapulafis and 1 in supraspinatus, infraspinatus and subscapularis.And there were 13 shoulders torn with small size, 18 shoulders with middle size, 10 shoulders with large size and 3 shoulders with massive size.Ruptured rotator cuff was repaired with tendon to bone suture in 25 shoulders,with tendon to tendon suture in 7 shoulders, and combined suture in 11 shoulders.One shoulder was repaired by deltoid transfer.After an average 88.2-month-long follow-up(from 52 to 250 months),we evaluate the postoperative shoulder function with University of California at Los Angeles(UCLA)score.The patient's subject satisfaction was assayed by visual analogue scale (VAS).The risk factors as age, sex,dominant side, trauma history,preoperative duration and tear size were analyzed.Results The average UCLA score was 11.5±2.8 preoperatively and 29.7±5.3 at follow-up, with 36 shoulders reaching excellent or good and 2 shoulders ranking poor.According to VAS,the subject satisfaction rate was as high as 89%,being positively related to UCLA score significantly(r=0.72,P＜0.01).Preoperative duration(r=-0.332,P=0.028)and tear size(r=-0.404,P=-0.007)was negatively relative with surgical results.Age,sex,dominant side,trauma history had no effect on prognosis.Conclusion Open rotator cuff repair could acquire satisfying outcome.Preoperative duration and tear size was negatively relative with surgical results.