Arthroscopic, open and mini-open approach for rotator cuff repair: no difference in pain or function at 24 months

Background: The New Zealand Rotator Cuff Registry was established in 2009 to collect prospective functional, pain and outcome data on patients undergoing rotator cuff repair (RCR).

Methods: Information collected included an operation day technical questionnaire completed by the surgeon and Flex Shoulder Function (SF) functional and pain scores preoperatively, immediately post-operatively and at 6, 12 and 24 months. A multivariate analysis was performed analysing the three surgical approaches to determine if there was a difference in pain or functional outcome scores.

Results: A total of 2418 RCRs were included in this paper. There were 418 (17.3%) arthroscopic, 956 (39.5%) mini-open and 1044 (43.2%) open procedures. Twenty-four-month follow-up data were obtained for pain and Flex SF in 71% of patients. At 24 months, there was no difference in the average Flex SF score for the arthroscopic, mini-open and open groups. There was no difference in improvement in Flex SF score at 24 months. At 24 months, there was no difference in mean pain scores. There was no difference in improvement in pain score from preoperation to 24 months. Most patients returned to work within 3 months of surgery, with no difference between the three surgical approaches.

Conclusion: RCR has good to excellent outcomes in terms of improvement in pain and function at 2-year follow-up. We found no difference in pain or functional outcome at 24 months between arthroscopic, open and mini-open approaches for RCR.