ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Superior capsular reconstruction (SCR) for massive, irreparable rotator cuff tears involves anchoring a graft between the superior glenoid and the greater tuberosity of the humerus. Optimizing the graft size is important. We aimed (1) to evaluate the reliability of plain film radiography in determining graft size for SCR and (2) to create a database to help predict future graft sizes. METHODS: An inter- and intra-rater reliability trial was conducted on 10 and 6 subjects with healthy shoulders, respectively, using plain film radiography to measure the distance between the superior glenoid and the supraspinatus footprint. The subjects were positioned upright with an abduction pillow modified to hold the shoulder at 30° abduction and 45° external rotation, afterwhich a true antero-posterior shoulder radiograph was captured. Thirty subjects were recruited for the database and grouped using the aforementioned protocol. RESULTS: The inter-rater and intra-rater trial agreement was excellent, with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.94 (95% CI) and 0.76 (95% CI), respectively. Three medio-lateral patch sizes, of 33 mm, 38 mm, and 47 mm, were proposed based on the protocol in 30 subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Plain film radiography demonstrated excellent reliability in measuring the distance between the superior glenoid and the supraspinatus footprint. Three ordinal patch sizes are proposed.