Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty for Massive Rotator Cuff Tears Without Glenohumeral Arthritis

Background We report here on the results, stratified by diagnosis, of a multicenter prospective study by surgeons unaffiliated with the design team of reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) performed using a lateralized glenosphere. We hypothesized that outcomes would be comparable to those reported previously.Methods: A total of 245 patients underwent RSA for cuff tear arthropathy or glenohumeral arthritis with rotator cuff tear, rotator cuff tear with instability or escape and without glenohumeral arthritis, or failed shoulder arthroplasty. Clinical, radiographic, and self-assessed outcome measures were obtained preoperatively and at standardized time points postoperatively. At 2 years, 173 patients were available as 23 patients were deceased, 12 had undergone revision, and 37 were unavailable.Results: Range of motion and outcomes improved, irrespective of diagnosis. Active forward flexion, abduction, and external rotation improved (73°–127°, 65°–109°, and 24°–37°, respectively, P < .0001 for all). Simple Shoulder Test (3.2–8.5) and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scores (45–86) also improved. Scapular notching occurred in 13.3%; scapular spine/acromial fractures in 6.5%. Patients undergoing revision shoulder arthroplasty improved more modestly.Conclusion: In this multicenter study, surgeons unaffiliated with the design team obtained clinical improvements comparable to those reported previously and that exceeded minimal clinically important differences for RSA. Improvements in external rotation and low scapular notching rates potentially relate to the lateralized design.

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Arthroscopic Side-to-Side Repair of Massive Rotator Cuff Tears Maintains Adequate Functional Improvement at 12 to 14 Years’ Follow-up

The American Journal of Sports Medicine ◽

10.1177/0363546520985224 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 298-304

Author(s):

Marie Caroline Merlet ◽

Virginie Guinet ◽

Thomas Rousseau ◽

Floris van Rooij ◽

Mo Saffarini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rotator Cuff ◽

Constant Score ◽

Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty ◽

Case Series ◽

Rotator Cuff Tears ◽

Functional Improvement ◽

Shoulder Injuries ◽

Massive Rotator Cuff Tears ◽

Ultrasound Assessment

Background: Rotator cuff tears are common shoulder injuries that often cause pain and loss of function. Nonanatomic side-to-side techniques facilitate repair by minimizing tensions within tendons to improve healing and optimize the thickness of sutured tissues. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose was to evaluate long-term clinical and radiographic outcomes of arthroscopic side-to-side repair of massive rotator cuff tears (mRCTs). The hypothesis was that, at a minimum follow-up of 12 years, arthroscopic side-to-side repair maintains clinically important improvements. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: The authors reviewed records of all patients who underwent arthroscopic repair of mRCTs over 2 consecutive years. A total of 30 adult patients met the eligibility criteria and underwent side-to-side repair. Patients were evaluated clinically using the Constant score (CS) and ultrasound to assess retears at 3 timepoints after surgery: 2 to 4 years, 5 to 7 years, and 12 to 14 years. Results: At first follow-up (3.2 ± 0.5 years), all 30 patients had clinical and ultrasound assessment, which revealed 13 retears (43%). At second follow-up (6.2 ± 0.5 years), all 30 patients had clinical and ultrasound assessment, which revealed 2 new retears (total 50%). At final follow-up (13.0 ± 0.7 years), only 21 patients had clinical assessment (1 died and 8 could not be reached), and only 19 patients had ultrasound assessment, which revealed 6 new retears (total 79%). Both absolute CS and age-/sex-adjusted CS improved significantly from baseline values at first follow-up (73.5 and 96.6, respectively), and remained stable at second follow-up (69.0 and 91.9, respectively), and final follow-up (64.4 and 87.0, respectively). Compared to shoulders with intact repairs, those with retears tended to have lower absolute CS at all follow-up visits, although differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Patients with mRCTs maintain satisfactory clinical scores at 12 to 14 years after arthroscopic side-to-side repair despite a high incidence of retears. Repair is a safe and effective treatment for mRCTs, providing a less invasive and less complex alternative to reverse shoulder arthroplasty and tendon transfer procedures.

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Long-term outcome of arthroscopic debridement of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0241277 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (11) ◽

pp. e0241277

Author(s):

Tim Vogler ◽

Dimosthenis Andreou ◽

Georg Gosheger ◽

Nico Kurpiers ◽

Clara Velmans ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rotator Cuff ◽

Shoulder Arthroplasty ◽

Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty ◽

Rotator Cuff Tears ◽

Arthroscopic Debridement ◽

Radiographic Outcome ◽

Vas Score ◽

Long Term Follow Up

Objectives To evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcome of low-demand patients with massive rotator cuff tears undergoing arthroscopic debridement in mid- and long-term follow-up, as well as the rate of conversion to reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 19 patients with a mean age at surgery of 68 years (range, 55–80 years) from a previously described consecutive cohort and after a mean follow up of 47 month (FU1) and 145 month (FU2). The functional outcome was evaluated with the VAS score, the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, and the age- and gender-adjusted Constant (aCS) score. The radiographic outcome was classified according to the Hamada classification. Non-parametric analyses were carried out with the Mann-Whitney U for independent samples and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for related samples. Results Five patients (26%) developed symptomatic cuff tear arthropathy and underwent reverse shoulder arthroplasty after a mean time of 63 months (range, 45–97 months). These patients were excluded from further analyses. The mean VAS score of the remaining 14 patients at FU1 was significantly lower compared to preoperatively (P = .041), while there were no significant differences between the VAS score at FU1 and FU2 (P = 1.0). The ASES score of the affected shoulder at FU1 was significantly higher compared to prior to surgery (P = .028), while there were no significant differences between the scores of the affected shoulder between FU1 and FU2 (P = .878). While the ASES score of the contralateral shoulder at FU1 was significantly higher than the score of the affected shoulder (P = .038), there were no significant differences in the ASES scores of the affected and the healthy shoulder at FU2 (P = .575). The evaluation of the aCS produced similar results. A progression of the Hamada grade was documented in 6 patients. Conclusions Arthroscopic debridement is a safe and valid option for low-demand middle-age or elderly patients with symptomatic massive rotator cuff tears, leading to a significant pain relief and significantly improved functional outcome at mid- and long-term follow up. However, about a quarter of the patients in our cohort had to undergo reverse shoulder arthroplasty due to symptomatic cuff tear arthropathy. Furthermore, some of the remaining patients continued to undergo radiographic progression. This might be due to the natural history of their disease and/or the surgical procedure, and the clinical relevance of this finding should be evaluated in further studies.

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