Midterm outcomes after arthroscopic repair of partial rotator cuff tears: A retrospective study of correlation between partial tear types and surgical technique

Abstract

Objective: Patients who underwent arthroscopic repair for partial rotator cuff tears were evaluated retrospectively. This study pur-posed to assess the postoperative clinical results of arthroscopic treatment of intratendinous rotator cuff tears and to investigate the effect of the tear type on the postoperative clinical outcomes. Methods: Overall, 60 patients [36 women and 24 men; mean age: 48.6±12.2 years (range 33–67 years)] who underwent arthroscop-ic repair of Ellman stage 3 partial rotator cuff tear were evaluated retrospectively. These patients were grouped into the following three groups: articular-sided tears, bursal-sided tears, and intratendinous tears, with 20 patients included in each group. Subacro-mial decompression, acromioplasty, and tear repair without transforming to full-thickness tear were applied to the bursal-sided tears. The same technique was performed for intratendinous ruptures, with the only technical difference was that the capsular tissue was preserved during debridement of intratendinous tears. The articular-sided tears were transformed to complete tears and repaired arthroscopically. The preoperative and postoperative ASES scores and range of motion improvements were evaluated in all patients. The mean follow-up time was 44±6.5 months (range: 36–62 months). Results: No significant intergroup differences were observed concerning the age and the mean follow-up duration (p=0.524, p=0.665). A similar increase in ASES scores was observed for all three types of tears (bursal-sided tears: 31.09–82.65; articular-sid-ed tears: 35.50–-84.00; intratendinous tears: 34.01–83.49). Statistically, no significant intergroup difference was observed concerning ASES score improvement (p=0.585). An increase in mean forward flexion, abduction, and external rotation were observed, especially, a statistically significant increase in flexion (p=0.001) and abduction (p=0.001) in all three types of tears. No patient experienced any intraoperative or postoperative complications. Conclusion: The results of arthroscopic treatment of intratendinous tears were similar to the other types of partial tears, and the results of arthroscopic treatment of grade 3 partial rotator cuff tears revealed satisfactory outcomes, regardless of the type of the tear. Level of Evidence: Level III, Therapeutic study.