Ten-year assessment of primary rotator cuff repairs

A review of 30 patients who underwent a primary repair of their rotator cuff 10 years previously was performed. The average age of the patients at the time the operation was performed was 51 years (range 20 to 65 years). Twenty-seven men and three women were reviewed. An acromioplasty was performed in all patients. No patient had a distal clavicle excision. There were 12 small, 11 medium, five large, and two massive tears. A significant decrease in pain after surgery and a return to preinjury activities occurred in 82% of the patients. Subjective results were excellent or good in 70% of the patients. Good or excellent results were achieved in 80% of the 25 patients with objective data. In the overall results (subjective and objective), 64% of the patients had a good or excellent outcome. By Neer's criteria, 72% satisfactory results were achieved. No significant prognostic indicators were identified in this study, although a trend toward better results occurred in patients less than 55 years old and in those patients with smallor medium-sized tears. The findings of this study confirm the view that the results of rotator cuff repairs do not deteriorate, with follow-up extending to 10 years.