Functional outcome of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Abstract

Aim: To improve the clinical outcomes and to detect the significant predictors of outcome of rotator cuff repair, such as age, sex, side, tear size, fixation methods, smoking, and associated pathology have been investigated in the Indian population. Methods: Forty patients (27 male and 13 female) were included in the study who had complete degenerated rotator cuff tear, managed by arthroscopic single or double row repair technique and follow up till one year at a single institution. Postoperatively, patients were followed up regularly for 4 weeks, and at the final follow-up evaluated using a modified UCLA score. Physical examination and range of motion were analyzed and documented. Results: More than 87.5% of the patients showed good and excellent results. Thirty patients (75%) showed good results, 3 patients (7.5%) showed excellent results. There were no statistically significant relations of outcome with age, sex, side of the tear, size of tear, alcohol or smoking. Patients showed a 65% drop sign negative compared to a 35% drop sign negative cases which are statistically significant. Belly press test was negative in all patients. Mean UCLA score of both favorable and unfavorable results in terms of improvement of post-operative score compared to pre-operative UCLA score was statistically significant. Conclusions: We conclude that the functional outcome was very satisfactory with excellent results. Our study found that post-operative clinical outcomes are not associated with age, sex, side, and size of the tear. Our results depicted that the arthroscopic rotator cuff repair could be the considerable option for repairing rotator cuff repair.