Why Do Patients Decide to Have Surgery for Their Symptomatic Rotator Cuff Tear? A Prospective Study

Abstract

Objectives: While rotator cuff pathology may be amenable to conservative therapy, patients with full thickness tears not improving with non-operative treatment are indicated for repair. The decision to undergo surgery is often multifactorial with pain, loss of function, and concern for progression all factoring in the decision-making process. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate patients main determining factors in deciding to have surgery for their rotator cuff tear, correlate these factors with strength of surgeon recommendation and clinical outcomes. Methods: One hundred and fifty patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) were enrolled prospectively. Patients received a questionnaire preoperatively to determine why they decided to proceed with surgical repair. This 13-question survey was developed based on evidence-based review of rotator cuff repair literature and the Delphi technique. Patients were asked to rate each factor with regard to importance in their decision to proceed with repair. Surgeons were given a similar Likert Scale and were queried on how strongly they would recommend surgery for their patients based upon various factors such as MRI findings, age, etc. Pre- and post-operative shoulder function was assessed with the American Shoulder and Elbow Society (ASES) Score. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the reasons to proceed with surgery and correlated with outcomes based on ASES scores. Results: The most influential patient reported factors for proceeding with surgical repair were: limited functionality of the shoulder (81%), surgeon recommendation (80%), and daily chronic pain (77%). Patients improved from 42.6 to 77.0 on the ASES from baseline to 6-months (p<0.001). Patients who listed that they were unable to play a favorite sport or hobby as their top reason for surgery demonstrated a significant increase in their ASES score relative to other factors at the 3 month time point (p=0.0014); otherwise, there was no significant difference in outcomes for any other time point based on category importance. Subgroup analysis of males and females and older v. younger patients demonstrated significant findings. Females were more likely to proceed with repair due to inability to sleep and daily, chronic pain (p