title: Comparison of total and partial traumatic tears of the subscapularis tendon.
abstract: We treated surgically 16 shoulders with an isolated traumatic rupture of the subscapularis tendon over a six-year period. Nine patients had a total and seven a partial tear of the subscapularis tendon. Repair was undertaken through a small deltopectoral groove approach. The mean Constant score improved in total tears from 38.7 to 89.3 points (p = 0.003) and in partial tears from 50.7 to 87.9 points (p = 0.008). The total tears were significantly more improved by surgery than the partial tears (p = 0.001). The delay between trauma and surgery was inversely proportional to the improvement in the Constant score suggesting that early diagnosis and surgical repair improves outcome.
authors.affiliation: Kantonsspital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland. kreuz@ch11.ukl.uni-freiburg.de
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kreuz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Remiger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lahm
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Herget
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gächter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012421:Rupture; D000070599:Shoulder Injuries; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000601:surgery; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000209:etiology; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome