• Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2011

Purpose: We evaluated the clinical outcome after arthroscopic repair in full thickness rotator cuff tears with and without delamination. Materials and Methods: From March 2006 to October 2008, we included 48 consecutive shoulders (31 males, 17 females; mean age 57.6 years; 45~68) who had arthroscopic double row repair for fullthickness tears of the rotator cuff. Mean rotator cuff tear size was 2.8 cm (range: 1.2~3.6) and the techniques of tendon-to-bone fixation varied according to the presence of delamination; separate row fixations of bursal and articular layer were used in delaminated tear. The mean follow-up was 26 months (range: 18~33) and functional and structural results were evaluated by American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) scale, isokinetic strength testing and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) obtained mean 8 months (range:6~13) postoperatively. The patterns of delamination, age, sex, symptom duration, size of tear, satisfaction rate, retear rate ware compared and significance was set at p values < 0.05. Results: Postoperative functional shoulder score improved significantly in 44 shoulders (91.7%). Delamination was observed in 15 shoulders (31%) and it extended proximally and posteriorly in the majority of shoulders, and the articular layer was thicker (8/15, 53%) and more retracted (9/15, 60%) compared with the superficial bursal layer. Final follow up functional shoulder scores showed no differences between non-delaminated and delaminated tears and the presence of delamination had no correlations with sex, symptom duration, tear size and satisfaction rate, however, older age had more delaminated tears (p=0.041). Follow up MRI in 29 shoulders revealed that fourteen (48%) shoulders had complete healing; nine (31%), partial healing; six (21%), complete retear but the half of the retear group showed favorable clinical results. 79% (15/19) in non-delaminated tear and 80% (8/10) in delaminated tear were judged as healed tendon on MRI and double-layer double row repairs in delaminated tears resulted in nearly same rate of structural integrity of single-layer double row repairs (p=0.165). Conclusion: The incidence of delamination in our series was 31% and older age had more delaminated tears. Sex, symptom duration, preoperative size of the tear, functional results and satisfaction rate had no significant correlations with the presence of delamination. Nearly the same postoperative structural integrity was noted in both delaminated and non-delaminated tears.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.166-171
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• 2021

Background: This study aims to compare the clinical outcomes of steroid injections during the rehabilitation period after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ACRC). Methods: Among patients who underwent ARCR, 117 patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled. Pain and range of motion (ROM) recovery at the 3-, 6-, and 24-month follow-up visits and functional outcome at the 24-month follow-up were compared between 45 patients who received ultrasound-guided subacromial steroid injection at postoperative week 4 or 6 and 72 patients who did not. Functional outcome was assessed using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score and Constant score. Healing of the repaired tendon and retear were observed at the 6-month follow-up via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) arthrography. Results: At the 3-month follow-up, the steroid injection group showed lower visual analog scale scores than the control group (p<0.05) and showed faster recovery of forward flexion and internal rotation (p<0.05). From the 6-month follow-up, the two groups did not show differences in pain and ROM, and the ASES score and Constant score also did not significantly differ at the 24-month follow-up. The two groups did not differ in retear rate as determined by MRI or CT arthrography at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that ultrasound-guided subacromial steroid injection at 4 or 6 weeks after ARCR leads to quick pain reduction and ROM recovery until 3 months after surgery. Therefore, subacromial steroid injection is speculated to be an effective and relatively safe method to assist rehabilitation.