title: Effectiveness of physical therapy in treating atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears: a multicenter prospective cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effectiveness of a specific nonoperative physical therapy program in treating atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears using a multicenter prospective cohort study design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears who consented to enroll provided data via questionnaire on demographics, symptom characteristics, comorbidities, willingness to undergo surgery, and patient-related outcome assessments (Short Form 12 score, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, Western Ontario Rotator Cuff score, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score, and Shoulder Activity Scale). Physicians recorded physical examination and imaging data. Patients began a physical therapy program developed from a systematic review of the literature and returned for evaluation at 6 and 12 weeks. At those visits, patients could choose 1 of 3 courses: (1) cured (no formal follow-up scheduled), (2) improved (continue therapy with scheduled reassessment in 6 weeks), or (3) no better (surgery offered). Patients were contacted by telephone at 1 and 2 years to determine whether they had undergone surgery since their last visit. A Wilcoxon signed rank test with continuity correction was used to compare initial, 6-week, and 12-week outcome scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cohort consists of 452 patients. Patient-reported outcomes improved significantly at 6 and 12 weeks. Patients elected to undergo surgery less than 25% of the time. Patients who decided to have surgery generally did so between 6 and 12 weeks, and few had surgery between 3 and 24 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nonoperative treatment using this physical therapy protocol is effective for treating atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears in approximately 75% of patients followed up for 2 years.
authors.affiliation: MOON Shoulder Group, Nashville, TN, USA. Electronic address: j.kuhn@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Warren R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Keith M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Baumgarten
authors.forename: Julie Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Brophy
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Carey
authors.forename: Brian G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Holloway
authors.forename: Grant L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: C Benjamin
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Marx
authors.forename: Eric C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: McCarty
authors.forename: Sourav K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Poddar
authors.forename: Matthew V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Edwin E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Armando F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Rick W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries; D000070599:Shoulder Injuries; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Case Series; Level IV; MOON Shoulder Group; Rotator cuff tear; Treatment Study; nonoperative treatment; outcomes; physical therapy; prospective multicenter cohort
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