Arthroscopic Suture Bridge Repair Technique for Full Thickness Rotator Cuff Tear

BACKGROUND The purpose of our study is to evaluate the clinical results of arthroscopic suture bridge repair for patients with rotator cuff tears. METHODS Between January 2007 and July 2007, fifty-one shoulders underwent arthroscopic suture bridge repair for full thickness rotator cuff tears. The average age at the time of surgery was 57.1 years old, and the mean follow-up period was 15.4 months. RESULTS At the last follow-up, the pain at rest improved from 2.2 preoperatively to 0.23 postoperatively and the pain during motion improved from 6.3 preoperatively to 1.8 postoperatively (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). The range of active forward flexion improved from 138.4 degrees to 154.6 degrees , and the muscle power improved from 4.9 kg to 6.0 kg (p = 0.04 and 0.019, respectively). The clinical results showed no significant difference according to the preoperative tear size and the extent of fatty degeneration, but imaging study showed a statistical relation between retear and fatty degeneration. The average Constant score improved from 73.2 to 83.79, and the average University of California at Los Angeles score changed from 18.2 to 29.6 with 7 excellent, 41 good and 3 poor results (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The arthroscopic suture bridge repair technique for rotator cuff tears may be an operative method for which a patient can expect to achieve clinical improvement regardless of the preoperative tear size and the extent of fatty degeneration.