Rotator Cuff Revision Benefits Not Long-Lasting

The functional and clinical improvements for patients who undergo revision arthroscopic rotator cuff repair surgery do not last as long when compared with patients who have first-time surgery, according to recent sports medicine research.

“Further studies are needed to identify ways to improve long-term outcomes following revision arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery. However, our results do highlight the long-term success of primary rotator cuff surgery and may help patients understand the realistic expectation of the outcomes of revision arthroscopic rotator cuff surgeries,” Aminudin Mohamed Shamsudin, M.D., said in a news release.

Investigators from the Orthopaedic Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, conducted a retrospective review of 350 (300 primary, 50 revision) arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs with standardized patient-ranked outcomes, examiner-determined assessments and ultrasound-determined rotator cuff integrity evaluated preoperatively, at six months and two years postoperatively.

The re-tear rate for the primary rotator cuff repair cohort was 16 percent at six months and 21 percent at final follow-up. Patients in the revision cohort showed a 28 percent re-tear rate at six months, a rate that increased to 40 percent at final follow-up. At two years postoperatively, the primary cohort reported less pain at rest, during sleep and with overhead activity compared with the revision group. At final follow-up, patients who had a primary cuff repair had better forward flexion (+13 percent), abduction (+18 degrees), internal rotation (+2 vertebral levels), greater strength, lift-off strength and adduction strength when compared with revision group patients.