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Suprascapular nerve release does not provide additional benefits in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the effect of suprascapular nerve release in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery.

Methods

This systematic review was performed to include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs that compared the outcomes of patients who did and did not receive suprascapular nerve release (SSNR) during arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery. MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for relevant studies. Methodological Index for Non-randomized Studies (MINORS) was used for cohort study assessment. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool (version 1.0) was used to assess the risk of bias in randomized trials. The primary outcomes were pain and shoulder function. The secondary outcome was the re-tear rate.

Results

Two RCTs and three non-RCTs with a total of 187 patients (90 patients received SSNR and 97 patients did not receive SSNR) were included in this systematic review. The meta-analysis revealed that the SSNR group did not had a more pain reduction, assessed by visual analogue scale, compared to the non-SSNR group. Also, the SSNR group did not have a significantly more improvement in the UCLA score, compared to the non-SSNR group. In addition, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of Constant score and re-tear rate.

Conclusions

The result of this study showed that additional suprascapular nerve release did not provide additional benefit in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery. Routine arthroscopic SSNR is not recommended when treating patients with rotator cuff tear.

Level of evidence

Level III

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Ching-Chi Chi and Mr. Shih-Chieh Shao for their expertise and assistance throughout all aspects of this study.

Funding

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan

    Tzu-Hung Yang, Meng-Hao Lin & Yao-Hung Tsai

  2. Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, No. 6 Western Sec., Chia-Pu Road, Putzi City, Chiayi, 613, Taiwan

    Liang-Tseng Kuo, Wei-Hsiu Hsu, Pei-An Yu & Chi-Lung Chen

  3. School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Liang-Tseng Kuo & Wei-Hsiu Hsu

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  1. Tzu-Hung Yang
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  2. Meng-Hao Lin
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Contributions

Conceptualization, PAY, and LTK; methodology, LTK, and MHL; validation, LTK, and CLC; formal analysis, LTK; data curation, THY, and MHL; writing—original draft preparation, THY; writing—review and editing, LTK and WHH.; visualization, YHT; supervision, RWH. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liang-Tseng Kuo.

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No ethical approval is needed for our systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Yang, TH., Lin, MH., Kuo, LT. et al. Suprascapular nerve release does not provide additional benefits in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 31, 1873–1882 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-022-07066-4

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