Current concepts review: revision rotator cuff repair

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 rotator cuff repair; however, more recent studies show 52% to 69% satisfactory results in small-sized or medium-sized tears. Arthroscopic revision rotator cuff repair yields greater than 60% good or excellent results. Poor tissue quality, detachment of the deltoid origin, and multiple previous surgeries are risk factors for poor results in revision rotator cuff repair.