title: Arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff tear with a modified Mason-Allen stitch: mid-term clinical and ultrasound outcomes.
abstract: One of the most discussed point about arthroscopic full-thickness rotator cuff (RTC) repair is the strength of tendon-stitch interface. In the period between November 2003 and September 2004, in a series of 29 patients with primary isolated supraspinatus tear measuring > 2 cm a reconstruction using one titanium anchor and a modified Mason-Allen (MMA) stitch was done. These patients were prospectively collected in this study and then retrospectively evaluated. There were 21 men and 8 women with a mean age of 59.3 years. Patients were examined pre-operatively by a single sport medicine doctor, very experienced on shoulder pathology problem. Constant score, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) scale and Simple Shoulder Test (SST) were administered. After a minimum follow-up of 24 months patients were revaluated clinically by the same independent examiner. At the same time patients underwent an ultrasound shoulder examination to evaluate rotator cuff integrity. Clinically there was a significant improvement of Constant score, SST score and UCLA scale at followup. Twenty-five patients (86.2%) were satisfied, whether the other four patients (13.8%) stated that they would decline procedure. Recurrent rotator cuff tear was found in 11 patients (38%), who were all older than 60. All the patients but one with a pre-operative MRI grade III tendon tissue fatty infiltration, had a cuff re-tear. Arthroscopic supraspinatus tendon repair with one single anchor and MMA stitch is a reliable technique leading to a re-tear of 38% that is comparable with results reported in literature.
authors.affiliation: Unità di Chirurgia della Spalla "IRCCS Istituto Clinico Humanitas", Rozzano, Milan, Italy. alex.castagna@tin.it
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castagna
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Markopoulos
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borroni
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Flaviis
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giardella
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garofalo
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries; D053441:Suture Anchors; D013536:Suture Techniques; D014463:Ultrasonography