A prospective therapeutic comparison of simple suture repairs to massive cuff stitch repairs for treatment of small- and medium-sized rotator cuff tears.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to compare the massive cuff stitch (MCS) with the simple stitch in terms of integrity at 2 years after surgery when used to repair small-sized to medium-sized full-thickness rotator cuff tears.


METHODS
Seventy-one patients underwent arthroscopic repair of full-thickness rotator cuff tears between December 2004 and June 2006. The tear sizes ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 cm. The mean patient age was 53 years (range, 40 to 69 years), and the mean follow-up time was 33 months (range, 24 to 41 months). Group I (n = 35) underwent MCS repair, and group II (n = 36) underwent simple stitch repair. Results were analyzed by use of the Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Mann-Whitney test. Follow-up ultrasound was performed 24 to 41 months after repair.


RESULTS
All patients showed improvements in the visual analog scale for pain, activities of daily living, and University of California, Los Angeles scores (P < .05), but there were no significant differences in scores between groups (P > .05). The satisfaction rating was similar for group I (4.7) and group II (4.3) (P > .05). The failure (retear) rate was significantly lower in group I (14.3%) than in group II (27.8%) (P < .05).


CONCLUSIONS
The clinical outcomes between the MCS and simple stitch were not significantly different, but the MCS was superior to the simple stitch in maintaining repair integrity on ultrasound evaluation after arthroscopic repair of small-sized to medium-sized full-thickness rotator cuff tears.


METHODS
Level III, prospective therapeutic comparative study.
Ko
Sang-Hun
SH
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, South Korea. shkoo@mail.ulsan.ac.kr
Friedman
Darren
D
Seo
Dong-Kyo
DK
Jun
Hyung-Min
HM
Warner
Jon J P
JJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries; D013536:Suture Techniques; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation