Outcome of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair after 4 years of evaluation

Background: Shoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal complaint in the general population, mostly in the elderly. Among them, the rotator cuff problems are found to be most common causes. The treatment of rotator cuff pathology has progressed from open repair, first described by Codman in 1911 to arthroscopy assisted “mini open” techniques, to all arthroscopic repair techniques, first reported by Johnson who used metal staples while E.M. Wolf pioneered the first completely arthroscopic repair using suture anchors in 1990. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the functional outcome following all arthroscopic repairs of full-thickness rotator cuff tears with suture anchors. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was done for 24 shoulders in 24 patients treated for full-thickness rotator cuff tear by all-arthroscopic repair between February 2014 and September 2015 and followed until May 2018. The results were evaluated using the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder scoring system. Patients younger than 18 and over 80 and also those with bony lesion were excluded from the study as were those which might have confounded the outcome were excluded. Results: Among the 24 patients, the UCLA clinical scores were excellent in 12 patients, good in 9 patients, fair in 2 patients, and poor in 1 patient. The average UCLA score was 31.84. Conclusion: All-arthroscopic repair is an excellent treatment option for full-thickness rotator cuff tears, although with a steep learning curve.