The purpose of this historical prospective study was to compare the pre and post-operative Quality of Life (QOL) outcomes twelve months post-operatively in patients with partial thickness rotator cuff tears. Data of ninety-three consecutive patients diagnosed with Partial Thickness Tear (PTT) who had undergone decompression, acromioplasty, or repair were used to compare the outcome between patients with Articular Tears (AT) and Bursal Tears (BT). The QOL outcome measures included one disease specific outcome measure, the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC) and two shoulder specific measures, the American Shoulder &
Elbow Surgeons standardised shoulder assessment form (ASES) and the Constant-Murley score. A statistical paired t-test (pre vs. twelve months) and an independent t-test analysis (Articular vs. Bursal) were conducted to examine the impact of the tear site. Forty-four Articular and forty-nine Bursal tears (forty-eight females and forty-five males) were included in the analysis. The mean age was 55.5 (SD: 13) and 53.3 (SD: 12) for the AT and BT groups respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in pre-operative QOL outcome scores. Both groups showed significant improvement in the above outcomes (p<
0.0001) one year following surgery. However, the AT group was significantly less improved than the BT group in the post-op ASES scores (p=0.04), Constant-Murley scores (p=0.006) and WORC (p=0.01). The intent of this study was to compare the pre and post operative scores and rate of improvement in two groups of patients suffering from rotator cuff pathology at different sites. The results indicate that the quality of life improves significantly regardless of the tear site. The pattern of recovery however is different indicating that patients with Bursal tears show a higher degree of improvement in their functional measures. The findings suggest that two types of tears are different in their etiology and pathomechanics.
Type II SLAP lesions account for 22–55% of all SLAP lesions and are described as detachment of the superior labrum along with the biceps anchor from the superior glenoid rim. This detachment may be associated with glenohumeral joint instability. The majority of SLAP lesions are associated with other pathologies such as rotator cuff tears, Bankart and other instability lesions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of arthroscopic repair of type II SLAP lesions, two years following arthroscopic repair with suture anchors. Data on thirty-eight consecutive patients (thirty-four males, four females, mean age: forty-five years, range, twenty-two to seventy years) were used for analysis. Outcome measures were the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) assessment form and the Constant-Murley score. Thirteen patients had work-related injuries. Specific tests for SLAP lesion (i.e. New pain provocation test, O’Brien test, Yergason’s Test) were conducted pre-operatively. Twenty-three patients had surgery on the right side. The O’Brien test was positive in 51% of the patients. The minimum follow up period was twenty-four months. Five patients had isolated SLAP type II lesion. Thirty-three had associated pathologies. Ten patients had rotator cuff repair. Twelve patients required acromioplasty and one patient underwent the long head of biceps tenodesis. Three patients had associated Bankart lesions. All patients showed significant improvement in ASES scores (p<
0.0001). However, Patients with work-related injuries did not show a significant improvement in Constant-Murley scores (p=0.20). Associated pathologies did not affect level of disability or subjective scores post-operatively. Strength did not change to a statistically significant level following SLAP repairs. Arthroscopic SLAP repair provides significant improvement in subjective scores of the ASES. Patients with work-related injuries demonstrate a different pattern of recovery.
