Authors
Abstract
Background: Rotator cuff muscles are the milestone of shoulder function. Tear of the rotator cuff could result in shoulder pain and deterioration of the function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of arthroscopically repaired large and massive rotator cuff tears in short term. Methods: Fifity one consecutive patients (41 males, 10 females) with average age of 49 years old (38-62 y/o) who had arthroscopically repairable large or massive tears during a 3 year period in two hospitals in Tehran were included in the study. Ten of these patients were lost to follow-up and were excluded from the study. The remaining 41 were the focus of this study. Results: 28 patients had large tears and 13 had massive tears. Follow-up averaged 25 months (range, 12 to 48 months). Based on the University of California Los Angeles shoulder rating (UCLA), 88% of patients had good or excellent outcomes. Although 5 patients were considered failures based on the UCLA score, 98% of patients were satisfied with the result. Only 1 of these failures underwent a second operation for revision repair. There was no significant difference in final scores when comparing the massive tears with the entire group. The preoperative scores however for massive tears were lower than the large tears.Conclusion: Arthroscopic management of large and massive of rotator cuff tears results in good or excellent outcomes comparable to reported outcomes following open repair
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