The study, the largest to report on arthroscopic revision repairs, evaluated 61 patients who had undergone a rotator cuff repair surgery that failed, according to the release. Arthroscopic surgery was then performed on the patients to improve their pain and shoulder function, which was indicated in follow-up results, one to two years later.
According to the release, six of the 61 patients required additional surgery after the revision surgery, and these patients had previously had two or more shoulder surgeries prior to the study.
Researchers also found that female patients and those who could not raise their arm 90 degrees to the side prior to revision surgery had poorer results, and the reason why female patients were at higher risk were not determined by the study, according to the release.
“Until now, there had only been two reports documenting the results of arthroscopic surgery after a failed rotator cuff repair surgery,” Shane J. Nho, MD, MS, an assistant professor at Rush University Medical Center said in the release. “Most studies that have published on revision surgery discuss results of open revision techniques. Typically, results of open revision technique are worse than after the initial failed surgery, but the open clinical studies were performed on larger and more chronic rotator cuff tears.”
Read the AOSSM release on arthroscopic revision surgery in shoulders.
