Do patients receiving workers' compensation who undergo arthroscopic rotator cuff repair have worse outcomes than non-recipients? Retrospective case-control study.

PURPOSE: We compared preoperative and postoperative measures among workers' compensation board (WCB) recipients and non-recipients and determined the impact of WCB receipt on the 1- and 2-year outcomes of rotator cuff repair. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears who underwent arthroscopic repair between September 2011 and September 2014. Patients were divided into two groups based on WCB status: WCB recipients and non-recipients. All patients returned for follow-up functional evaluations at 1 and 2 years after the operation. Four outcome measures were evaluated: visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, the Shoulder Rating Scale of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and range of motion (ROM). RESULTS: Seventy patients (38 males, 32 females) were evaluated, 20 of whom were WCB recipients. At 1 year after the operation, ASES, UCLA, and VAS scores as well as abduction ROM (Abd-ROM) had improved significantly in both groups. However, non-recipients showed significantly greater improvement than did WCB recipients in ASES, UCLA, and VAS scores and in forward flexion ROM and Abd-ROM ( p = 0.000, 0.009, 0.002, 0.046, and 0.020, respectively). However, at 2 years after the operation (after the end of WCB), there were no significant differences in any clinical outcome between WCB recipients and non-recipients ( p = 0.057, 0.106, 0.075, 0.724, and 0.787, respectively). CONCLUSION: Although workers' compensation recipients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair had worse outcomes while receiving WCB benefits, the outcomes were similar after WCB benefits ended.

Clinical outcomes and repair integrity of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair using suture-bridge technique with or without medial tying: prospective comparative study.

BACKGROUND: There have been few studies comparing clinical and radiological outcomes between the conventional and knotless suture-bridge techniques. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the functional outcomes and repair integrity of arthroscopic conventional and knotless suture-bridge technique for full-thickness rotator cuff tears. METHODS: We prospectively followed 100 consecutive patients (100 shoulders) with full-thickness rotator cuff tears treated with the arthroscopic conventional or knotless suture-bridge technique from October 2012 to July 2014. Enrolled patients returned for follow-up functional evaluations at 1 and 2 years after the operation. There were four outcome measures in this study: American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) scores, Shoulder Rating Scale of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) scores, Constant scores, and visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores. Enrolled patients returned for follow-up magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasonography evaluation to confirm the integrity of the repaired cuff at 6 months post-operation (97% follow-up rate). Also, we investigated the preoperative cuff retraction of enrolled patients using preoperative MRI to find out correlation between the stage of cuff retraction and re-tear rate. RESULTS: At final follow-up, the average UCLA, ASES, Constant, and VAS scores had improved significantly to 32.5, 88.0, 80.4, and 1.3, respectively, in the conventional suture-bridge technique group and to 33.0, 89.7, 81.2, and 1.2, respectively, in the knotless suture-bridge technique group. The UCLA, ASES, Constant, and VAS scores improved in both groups after surgery (all p < 0.001), and there were no significant differences between the two groups at 2-year follow-up (p = 0.292, 0.359, 0.709, and 0.636, respectively). The re-tear rate of repaired rotator cuffs was 16.3% (8/49 shoulders) in the conventional suture-bridge technique group and 29.2% (14/48 shoulders) in the knotless suture-bridge technique group; this difference was not significant (p = 0.131). There were no significant differences between the re-tear rate of the two groups in the Patte stage I and II (p = 0.358 and 0.616). CONCLUSIONS: The knotless suture-bridge technique showed comparable functional outcomes to those of conventional suture-bridge techniques in medium-to-large, full-thickness rotator cuff tears at short-term follow-up. The knotless suture-bridge technique had a higher re-tear rate compared with conventional suture-bridge technique, although the difference was not significant.

Anterolateral Meniscofemoral Ligament of the Lateral Meniscus.

Anatomical variations of the meniscus are a common anomaly that knee surgeons frequently encounter. However, anomalies of the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus (AHLM) are extremely rare. In this report, we present a newly discovered anomaly of the AHML: an anterolateral meniscofemoral ligament is described with clinical features and radiographic and arthroscopic findings.

Arthroscopic treatment of piriformis syndrome by perineural cyst on the sciatic nerve: a case report.

This is a case report of an arthroscopic treatment performed on a patient with piriformis syndrome due to perineural cyst on piriformis muscle and sciatic nerve. Confirmation, incision, and drainage of benign cystic lesion on the sciatic nerve below the piriformis muscle were performed following the release of the piriformis tendon through the posterior and posteroinferior arthroscopic portal. Recurrence of the symptoms has not been observed since postoperative period of 20 months. Nor did the MRI taken after the procedure reveal any such recurrence.