title: PROSPECTIVE AND COMPARATIVE STUDY ON FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES AFTER OPEN AND ARTHROSCOPIC REPAIR OF ROTATOR CUFF TEARS.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To prospectively assess the surgical results from patients undergoing repairs to rotator cuff injuries via open and arthroscopic procedures, with regard to functional and clinical features, and by means of ultrasound examinations, and to compare occurrences of renewed tearing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty patients underwent operations performed by the same surgeon (29 via open surgery and 31 via arthroscopy), to repair complete rotator cuff tears. The procedures were performed at Hospital Governor Israel Pinheiro (HGIP) and Mater Dei Hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, between August 2007 and February 2009. The patients were assessed functionally by means of the UCLA score before and after the operation, and magnetic resonance imaging was done before the operation. All the patients were reassessed at least 12 months after the operation, and an ultrasound examination was also performed at this time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the 29 patients who underwent open surgery, 27 (93.1%) presented good or excellent results, with a mean UCLA score of 32 after the operation. Their mean follow-up was 14 months. Three patients presented renewed tearing on ultrasound, of whom one remained asymptomatic. Out of the 31 patients who underwent arthroscopic procedures, 29 (93.5%) presented good or excellent results, with a mean UCLA score of 33 after the operation. Their mean follow-up was 19 months. Two patients presented renewed tearing, of whom one remained asymptomatic and one evolved with loosening of an anchor, with an unsatisfactory result.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The repairs on rotator cuff injuries presented good results by means of both open surgery and arthroscopy, with similar functional results in the two groups and similar rates of renewed tearing.
authors.affiliation: Member of the Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Group, Orthopedics and Traumatology Service, Mater Dei Hospital and Public Servants' Social Security Institute of the State of Minas Gerais (IPSEMG) and São José University Hospital (FCMMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Antônio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Castro Veado
authors.affiliation: Third-year Resident in Orthopedics and Traumatology, Mater Dei Hospital, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Simões
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Castilho
authors.affiliation: Third-year Resident in Orthopedics and Traumatology, Mater Dei Hospital, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Philipe Eduardo Carvalho
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.affiliation: Member of the Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Group, Orthopedics and Traumatology Service, Mater Dei Hospital, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alessandro Ulhôa
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
keywords: Arthroscopy; Prospective Studies; Rotator Cuff/injuries; Shoulder