Surgical treatment of full thickness rotator cuff tear in patients younger than 40 years.
BACKGROUND
Full thickness tear of the rotator cuff is a well-known entity in the middle-aged and elderly population and the results of surgical repair are well documented. Rotator cuff tear in patients under the age of 40 years is unusual and the cause and treatment are not well established. The present study reports 12 young patients with full thickness tear of the rotator cuff treated surgically.


METHODS
Open anteroinferior acromioplasty and cuff repairs were performed on every patient after failure of nonsurgical treatment. The average follow-up was 59.5 months (range, 36-100 months).


RESULTS
The average patient age at the time of surgery was 30.2 years (range, 17-39 years). Symptoms included pain and dysfunction in all patients and weakness in eight patients. The duration of symptoms before surgery ranged from 6 to 60 months (average, 22.8 months). Ten patients were able to return to their preinjury status within an average of 4.5 months (range, 3-9 months) after surgery. Three athletes were able to return to previous levels of competition. Nine patients had excellent functional results with regard to pain, motion, strength, function and satisfaction. Eleven patients were satisfied with the operation and had significant pain reduction compared with their preoperative status.


CONCLUSIONS
An acute traumatic event was the etiology of the rotator cuff tears in this study. The results of surgical treatment in this younger group of patients were satisfactory and were comparable to the outcomes reported for surgical treatment of rotator cuff tears in older patients and athletes.
Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.
H L
HL
Ma
J J
JJ
Wu
C F
CF
Lin
W H
WH
Lo
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000601:surgery*; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries