What’s the Use in Worrying?

Abstract

I complete an arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery—my fourth rotator cuff repair this day—and wonder, ‘What is next? What will be the next unsolved sports medicine problem to tackle?’ During my relatively brief career in orthopaedics, I have seen the evolution of this procedure from an open deltoid-splitting repair with prolonged and oftentimes capricious outcomes to a reproducible, minimally-invasive arthroscopic procedure, with reliable fixation techniques and predictable outcomes. In most instances, we can fix rotator cuff tears—all shapes and sizes—through small arthroscopic portals, using biomechanically optimized repair constructs that allow patients to recover faster and back to normal levels of function. That is amazing!

If there is a solution to the problem, then there is no need to worry. If there is no solution to the problem, then there is no need to worry.

—Dalai Lama