• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.13-19
• /
• 2011

Purpose: Not much is known about the obvious relationship between posteroinferior rotator cuff tear and biceps lesion. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of posteroinferior rotator cuff tear on a biceps lesions by comparing the rotator cuff tear and biceps lesions with the number of cuff tears and the degree of degeneration of the rotator cuff. Materials and Methods: 65 patients who underwent surgery for a posteroinferior rotator cuff tear from 2002 to 2009 were included as subjects. The study determined the factors (the number of cuff tears and the degree of degeneration as assessed by MRI) that affected biceps lesions and the kinematic stability of the rotator cuff. Results: Biceps lesion was noted 11 patients among the 51 patients with supraspinatus tendon tears and in 8 patients among the 14 patients with supraspinatus, infraspinatus or teres minor tendon tears, and there was a statistically significant difference between those two groups (p=0.0095). The number of cuff tears was proportional to biceps lesion with statistical significance (p=0.0095). Among the biceps lesions, SLAP II lesion showed a statistically different distribution according to the number of cuff tears (p=0.0073). The degeneration factors (Goutallier's classification and the tangent sign) had no correlations with biceps lesion. Conclusion: Posterosuperior cuff tear may affect biceps lesion. Especially, the number of cuff tears has a close relationship, but the degenerative indicators have no relationship with biceps lesion.