COMPARISON OF ALL ARTHROSCOPIC VS MINI OPEN ROTATOR CUFF REPAIR: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF TWO TECHNIQUES

Abstract

Background: Shoulder pain is a common presenting complaint in orthopedic clinic and among the causes of pain, Rotator cuff (RC) tears is a major contributing factor.  Many studies have looked at numbers and in the United States alone, up to 250,000 Rotator Cuff Repairs (RCRs) are done annually.  Regarding surgical management of RC tears, tradition open repair, mini-open repair and arthroscopic repair have been used by surgeons.

Methods: Once institutional review board approval was received, a retrospective study was performed. Convenience sampling technique was applied. After excluding the patients not meeting our study criteria, a final sample of 115 patients was analyzed:  60 combined arthroscopically assisted mini-open RCR (cRCR), and 55 all-arthroscopic RCR (aRCR).

Results: Our final study population was 115 patients which underwent either mini-open or arthroscopic RCR at our hospital. . First cRCR( combined arthroscopic and mini-open) groups had 60 patients, 60%(n=36) male and 40%(n=24) female patients. In the three month post operative period there were total 2 complications, 4 re-do surgeries and 1 re-hospitalization.

Conclusion: Our study has clearly demonstrated that both techniques for RC repairs, cRCR and aRCR have comparable clinical outcomes Patients in aRCR group had higher cost of surgery and more time spent in theatre.

Key words: rotator cuff repair, arthroscopy, mini-open technique