Mid-term clinical outcome following rotator cuff repair using all-suture anchors

Abstract

Background: Symptomatic rotator cuff tears can cause significant pain and functional disturbance, with associated financial ramifications. Non-surgical management should always be considered initially, however if recalcitrant to these measures surgical intervention may involve open, arthroscopic-assisted mini-open or arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs. The use of trans-osseous sutures and suture anchors has been reported with good results, with no significant differences if the repair remains intact or recurrent tears occur. The role of traditional suture anchors has been assessed clinically and biomechanically, however there have been reports of pull out, anchor material found within joint and concerns with the amount of bone loss. The all suture anchor (ASA) is proposed to address these concerns with encouraging cadaveric, biomechanical results to date. Methods: The two senior authors performed 31 arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs using ASA with a double row technique at the two study centres'. The patients were reviewed in clinic at one month, three months, 6 months and a year postoperatively. The patients were assessed with the Constant score and clinical range of motion of the shoulder in abduction, forward flexion, external rotation and internal rotation. The surgical technique and rehabilitation was the same for both surgeons. Results: At a mean follow up of 10.2 months (range 3-12 months) the mean constant score was 77.1 (range 35-90), with a mean abduction of 139.6 (range 30-180), external rotation of 43.4 (range 20-80), and internal rotation to lumbar vertebrae 3-4 (range buttock to lumbar vertebra 1). There has been one rerupture to date. Conclusions: The functional and clinical results in our study are comparable to those reported in literature using standard anchors.

Biomechanical comparison of different suture anchors used in rotator cuff repair surgery–all‐suture anchors are equivalent to other suture anchors: a systematic review and network meta‐analysis

“…They found that only one patient sustained a retear and that there was no difference in the contralateral supraspinatus strength at mean postoperative 1.58 years [ 36 ]. Dhinsa et al analyzed 31 patients who underwent double-row repair and reported one retear at a mean follow-up of 10.2 months with a mean Constant score of 77.1 [ 11 ]. Ro et al retrospectively compared 213 patients who underwent single-row rotator cuff repair using all-suture ( n = 137), bioabsorbable ( n = 36) or PEEK anchors ( n = 40).…”

Arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff injury with bioabsorbable suture anchor vs. all-suture anchor: a non-inferiority study

“…All-suture anchors were also tested, again in cadaveric studies, in tenodesis of the long head of the biceps, with encouraging results [ 18 ]. In a single study, the functional outcome was assessed by means of constant on a small number of patients, without however a radiological evaluation or a comparison with a similar system used by the same surgeon [ 19 ]. It is fair to say that the literature does not provide reliable clinical or instrumental parameters for the prognosis of arthroscopic repair, thus highlighting poor reproducibility of the evaluation indices considered [ 20 , 21 ].…”

Assessment of abduction motion in patients with rotator cuff tears: an analysis based on inertial sensors

“…For example, shoulder healing after surgery is of great interest to determine which surgical repair techniques are the best for tendon repair [39] or to maintain its integrity [40]. Furthermore, it is important to determine the effect of post-surgical rehabilitation [41–43], and current research is focused on clinical outcomes including both PRO and ROM [44, 45]. In this regard, future studies with a wider sample should include sensitivity and specificity assessment in order to determine its value as a diagnostic tool.…”