A Comparative Study on the Clinical Results of Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair and Open Repair Surgery

Despite the obvious advantages of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, there are no definitive evidences regarding the superiority of this method over open surgery.

The aim of this study is to compare the results of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair and open repair surgery.

A total of 52 patients referring to a general university hospital were included in the study and assigned to two groups of arthroscopic repair and open repair. Demographic information of patients and the presence of any underlying disease and the grade of rotator cuff tear were recorded. The pain scores of the patients were measured three times, before, 48 h after surgery and 6-month follow-up, using the VAS system. To evaluate the clinical performance of patients, UCLA scoring system (only 6 months after the surgery) and Constant (before and 6 months after surgery) were utilized.

32 patients were assigned to the open repair surgery and 20 to the arthroscopic repair group. The two groups were not significantly different in terms of pain variables, 48 hours after operation (p = 0.054) and 6 months after operation (p = 0.638), constant score 6 months after operation (p = 0.157) and UCLA shoulder rating scale 6 months after surgery (P = 0.167). Moreover, there was not any significant difference between the two groups with regard to these variables before surgery.

The results of this study showed that arthroscopic rotator cuff repair was a safe procedure which was as effective as open repair surgery. Also, reduced postoperative pain was one of the advantages of this method noted in the present study, although the long-term severity of pain in this method was not significantly different from the pain of patients undergoing open surgery.