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Similar results comparing early and late surgery in open repair of traumatic rotator cuff tears

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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose was to investigate whether surgical repair earlier or later than 3 months after injury may result in similar outcomes and patient satisfaction.

Methods

Seventy-three patients (75 shoulders, 58 males, mean age 59) who had undergone surgical intervention for traumatic rotator cuff tears from 1999 to 2011 were assessed by MRI, clinical examination and Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC) as a primary outcome measure and Oxford Shoulder score (OSS), Constant–Murley score (CS) and EQ-5D as secondary. The patients treated less than 3 months after injury (n = 39) were compared with patients treated more than 3 months after injury (n = 36). The average follow-up time was 56 months (range 14–149), and the average time from injury to repair for all patients was 16 weeks (range 3–104). A single senior radiologist performed a blinded evaluation of all the MRIs. Rotator cuff integrity, presence of arthritis, fatty degeneration and muscle atrophy were evaluated.

Results

No differences were found for any of the assessed outcomes (WORC, OSS, CS and EQ-5D) between the two groups. The mean WORC % was 77 % for both groups. Re-tear frequency was 24 %, nine in both groups. Patients with re-tear reported less satisfaction with their outcome.

Conclusions

The surgical treatment of symptomatic traumatic rotator cuff tears repairable later than 3 months after injury yields a good functional outcome, a high level of subjective patient satisfaction, and at the same level for patients receiving earlier treatment. Based on our findings, surgical repair could be encouraged whenever technically possible.

Level of evidence

Retrospective Comparative Study, Level III.

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Acknowledgments

Great thanks are due to the Aleris Department of Radiology and the Department of Orthopaedics at Danderyds Hospital for their generous sponsoring of the MRI investigation for this study.

Authors’ contributions

SZ study design, data collection, data analysis and writing the manuscript; AVH assessment of all the performed MRIs, review of the manuscript; AS review of the manuscript; EH review of the manuscript; BS study design, data analysis and review of the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden

    Soheila Zhaeentan

  2. Division of Radiology, Danderyds University Hospital, Denderyd, Sweden

    Anders Von Heijne

  3. Division of Orthopaedics, Danderyds University Hospital, Denderyd, Sweden

    André Stark & Björn Salomonsson

  4. Department of Clinical Science and Education, Hand and Foot Surgery Centre, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden

    Elisabet Hagert

Authors
  1. Soheila Zhaeentan
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  2. Anders Von Heijne
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Correspondence to Soheila Zhaeentan.

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Zhaeentan, S., Von Heijne, A., Stark, A. et al. Similar results comparing early and late surgery in open repair of traumatic rotator cuff tears. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 24, 3899–3906 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-015-3840-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-015-3840-0

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