Arthroscopically assisted latissimus dorsi transfer

Abstract

Surgery of rotator cuff tears was initially focused on anatomic repair of the tendon tear. However, imaging studies demonstrated high failure or recurrence rates after tendon-to-bone repair of massive rotator cuff tears, even for complete and “apparently” firm repairs. Therefore, search for effective alternatives to tendon-to-bone repair led to consider several solutions to treat massive, irreparable rotator cuff deficiency, such as debridement, partial rotator cuff repair, subscapularis tendon transfer, transfer of the subscapularis and teres minor, transfer of the long head of triceps, teres major transfer, interposition of a biceps tendon autograft, freeze-dried rotator cuff allograft, and synthetic grafts.