Five-Year Outcomes After Arthroscopic Repair of Partial-Thickness Supraspinatus Tears.

PURPOSE: To investigate clinical outcomes in patients who underwent arthroscopic repair of isolated partial-thickness rotator cuff tears (PTRCTs) of the supraspinatus tendon with a minimum follow-up period of 5 years.

METHODS: All patients who had undergone arthroscopic repair of isolated PTRCTs at least 5 years earlier were included. Preoperatively and postoperatively, the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, QuickDASH (short version of Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire), and Short Form 12 Physical Component Summary scores were collected, along with postoperative satisfaction (10-point scale) and return to activity. The associations between (1) patient age and outcome scores and (2) location of partial-thickness tear (articular vs bursal sided) and outcome scores were evaluated. Failure was defined as revision surgery of the rotator cuff repair.

RESULTS: The study included 24 shoulders (24 patients comprising 9 women and 15 men). Follow-up data were available on 20 shoulders (7 women and 13 men, 83% follow-up) at a mean of 6 ± 1 years postoperatively. The mean age at index surgery was 55 ± 11 years; 6 bursal- and 14 articular-sided tears were repaired. No patient required revision surgery. All scores significantly improved from preoperatively to postoperatively (P < .05); the median satisfaction rating (1, not satisfied; 10, completely satisfied) was 10 (range, 1-10). Neither patient age nor tear location correlated with outcome scores (P > .05). Seventeen patients indicated that they participated in previous recreational activity. Of these patients, 13 (76%) returned to the original level or a similar level of activity, 3 (18%) returned to activity at a lower level, and only 1 (6%) indicated an inability to return to activity.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing arthroscopic repair of PTRCTs can expect excellent clinical outcomes with low failure rates at midterm follow-up given that no patient progressed to revision rotator cuff repair during follow-up. The return-to-activity rate was very high after repair of isolated PTRCTs. Neither patient age nor tear location was associated with outcome scores.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, retrospective case series.