BACKGROUND Massive rotator cuff tears in active patients with minimal glenohumeral arthritis remain a particular challenge for the treating surgeon. METHODS A selective literature search was performed and personal surgical experiences are reported. RESULTS For patients with irreparable rotator cuff tears, a reverse shoulder arthroplasty or a tendon transfer are often performed. However, bot...

BACKGROUND Partial-thickness articular-sided rotator cuff tears are a frequent source of shoulder pain. Despite conservative measures, some patients continue to be symptomatic and require surgical management. However, there is some controversy as to which surgical approach results in the best outcomes for grade 3 tears. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate repair integ...

Compared with smaller tears, massive rotator cuff tears present significant clinical management dilemmas for the treating surgeon because they are often fraught with structural failure and poor outcomes. To optimize healing, current surgical methods look to optimize footprint coverage and enhance the biological environment for healing. Double-row techniques have demonstrated clear biomechanical...

Rotator cuff tendon tears are among the most common soft tissue injuries that occur at the shoulder. Despite advancements in surgical repair techniques, rotator cuff repairs experience a high rate of failure. The common occurrence of tears and the frequency of re-tears require a further understanding of the mechanisms associated with injuries, healing, and regeneration of the rotator cuff. This...

BACKGROUND Normative data are essential to the evaluation of shoulder function. The purposes of this study were to establish a normative database of isometric shoulder strength measured in asymptomatic individuals verified to have intact rotator cuffs and to determine the effect of asymptomatic rotator cuff tears on shoulder strength. METHODS Two hundred and thirty-seven volunteers with no sh...

BACKGROUND At present, there is no widely accepted classification system for partial-thickness rotator cuff tears, and as a result, optimal treatment remains controversial. PURPOSE To examine the interobserver reliability and accuracy of classifying partial rotator cuff tears using the Snyder classification system. We hypothesized that the Snyder classification would be reproducible with high...

BACKGROUND Among the many causes of rotator cuff tears, scapular morphology is associated with the accelerating degenerative process of the rotator cuff. Acromion index (AI) was previously introduced and compared in two populations. METHODS We enrolled 100 Korean patients diagnosed with full-thickness rotator cuff tears by magnetic resonance imaging and intraoperative arthroscopic findings be...

BACKGROUND It has been theorized that degenerative rotator cuff tears most commonly involve the supraspinatus tendon, initiating at the anterior portion of the supraspinatus insertion and propagating posteriorly. The purposes of this study were to determine the most common location of degenerative rotator cuff tears and to examine tear location patterns associated with various tear sizes. MET...

Failed rotator cuff repair may be caused by surgical complications, diagnostic errors, technical errors, failure to heal, and traumatic failure. Revision rotator cuff repair is made technically more difficult by poor tissue quality, tissue adhesions, and retained suture and suture anchor material. Historically, open revision rotator cuff repair yields inferior results compared with primary rota...