Comparison of Open and Arthroscopically Assisted Rotator Cuff Repairs

Abstract

Open rotator cuff repair has shown reliable results in terms of pain relief and improved shoulder function. Re cently, however, arthroscopically assisted rotator cuff repair has shown promising preliminary results. We compared the results of these two procedures with re gard to pain, function, range of motion, strength, patient satisfaction, and return to previous activity. Thirty-seven rotator cuff repairs were evaluated in 36 patients with a minimum followup of 2 years. The open repair group comprised 20 shoulders with an average followup of 3.3 years; the arthroscopically assisted repair group com prised 17 shoulders with an average followup of 3.2 years. Overall, the open repair group had 80% good- to-excellent results and 88% patient satisfaction, and the arthroscopically assisted repair group had 85% good-to-excellent results and 92% patient satisfaction. Shoulder flexion and abduction strength, the size of the tear repaired, and the functional outcome did not differ significantly between the two groups. In general, how ever, small and moderate-sized tears (<3 cm) had bet ter functional outcome with arthroscopically assisted re pair. The arthroscopically assisted repair group was hospitalized 1.2 days less and returned to previous ac tivity an average of 1 month earlier. In the surgical treat ment of symptomatic complete rotator cuff tears, arthro scopically assisted rotator cuff repair is as effective as open repair.