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Deep partial rotator cuff tear: transtendon repair or tear completion and repair? A randomized clinical trial

  • Shoulder
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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical and subjective difference between transtendon repair or complete/repair in two homogeneous groups of patients affected by deep partial articular supraspinatus tear.

Methods

Seventy-four patients were randomized in two groups of 37 patients each. The first group (A) was treated with arthroscopic transtendon repair while the second group (B) was treated with an arthroscopic completion of the tear and formal repair. All the patients were revaluated at a minimum 2 years of follow-up with Constant score and Visual Analogic Scale (VAS).

Results

Constant score improved by a mean value of 25 (95 % CI 21–28) (p < 0.0001) and of 29 (95 % CI 26–31) (p < 0.0001), respectively; VAS score decreased by a mean value of 3.4 (95 % CI 2.9–3.9) (p < 0.0001) and of 3.6 (95 % CI 3.3–4.0) (p < 0.0001), respectively. The improvement was higher in both groups for the ADL, and in Group B, the improvement in strength was higher than in Group A. There were no statistical differences between the two different techniques.

Conclusion

Both repairing techniques of deep partial supraspinatus tear provide good results in terms of function and pain. There were no statistically significant differences between the two techniques.

Level of evidence

Prospective comparative study, Level II.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRCCS Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Rozzano, Italy

    Alessandro Castagna, Mario Borroni, Giacomo Delle Rose & Marco Conti

  2. Ente Ecclesiastico, Ospedale Generale Regionale F. Miulli, Acquaviva delle Fonti, Italy

    Raffaele Garofalo

  3. Cliniche Gavazzeni, Bergamo, Italy

    Eugenio Cesari

  4. Casa di Cura Villa Stuart, Rome, Italy

    Roberto Padua

  5. Clinica Ortopedica Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy

    Stefano Gumina

Authors
  1. Alessandro Castagna
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  2. Mario Borroni
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  3. Raffaele Garofalo
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  4. Giacomo Delle Rose
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  5. Eugenio Cesari
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  6. Roberto Padua
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  7. Marco Conti
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  8. Stefano Gumina
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Raffaele Garofalo.

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Castagna, A., Borroni, M., Garofalo, R. et al. Deep partial rotator cuff tear: transtendon repair or tear completion and repair? A randomized clinical trial. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 23, 460–463 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-013-2536-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-013-2536-6

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