Arthroscopic assisted mini-open single row repair of rotator cuff tears: a quality of life impairment study

Methodology: A prospective study was conducted in Department of Orthopaedics, BPS Government Medical College and Hospital, in which patients, aged 30 to 70 years, who had an isolated tear in the rotator cuff tendon diagnosed by clinical examination & confirmed by MRI and had cuff repair performed solely with the use of arthroscopic assisted mini-open technique were included. Shoulder function assessments were made with University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) rating scale and Short Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36).

Results: Mean age of the 26 patients included was 47.12 ± 10.72 years. Most common mode of injury in our patient population was domestic fall, reported by 84.6% of the patients. Road side accident was reported by three patients and sports injury by one. Partial thickness tear was observed in 57.7% of the patients and rest had a full thickness tear. We found the UCLA score reduced significantly from 12.42 ± 3.7 preoperatively to 29.46 ± 3.01 at the end of 6 months. There is significant improvement in range of motion at the last follow up. Forward flexion averaged 84° (SD 32°, 95% CI 73–96°) preoperatively and 120° (SD 21°, 95% CI 112–127°) at the last follow-up(P<.0.001). External rotation improved from a mean of 81°(SD 7.8°, 95% CI 79–84°) preoperatively to a mean of 99°(SD 15, 95% CI 94–105°) at the latest follow-up(P<.0.001). The mean internal rotation improved from 28° (SD 2°, 95% CI 28–29°) at baseline to 33° (SD 3, 95% CI 31–34°) at the latest follow-up (P<.0.001).SF36 scores showed a significant improvement in all the subscales as well.

Conclusions: There is significant improvement in the quality of life both physically and mentally, as measured using the SF-36 self administered questionnaire and there is significant improvement in range of motion and functional status as measured by UCLA score after performing an arthroscopic assisted mini-open rotator cuff repair.