Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this matched cohort study was to examine the clinical outcome of biceps tendon debridement at two years following surgery.
Method: The study group included patients who had undergone debridement of a tear of less than or equal to 50% of the biceps tendon. The control group did not have biceps pathology and was chosen from the same pool of data and was matched with the study group by sex, age and type of associated pathology. Standardized pre and post operative data on history and clinical examination of all patients had been collected prospectively. The outcome measures were the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) assessment form, the relative Constant-Murley score (CMS), and the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) Index. Paired and independent T-tests were performed.
Results: Review of data identified 122 patients (16 females, 45 males in each group). The mean age was 59 (SD: 11) and 57 (SD: 12) for the study and control groups respectively. Fifty six percent of the subjects in each group (34/61) had impingement or partial thickness rotator cuff tears treated with a decompression (acromioplasty/ decompression). Twenty two patients (36%) had rotator cuff repair, and 5 (8%) had a SLAP repair. A statistically significant improvement was observed in the scores of WORC, ASES and CMS (p< 0.0001) in both groups. The magnitude of change, based on the effect size showed a large change in both groups. There was no statistically significant difference in pre and post-operative scores or recovery between groups.
Conclusion: Low grade tears of the biceps tendon do not appear to produce more disability prior to surgical treatment and are effectively treated with biceps debridement in addition to surgical treatment of associated pathologies.
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