Time to failure after rotator cuff repair: a prospective imaging study.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Musculoskeletal Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Rotator cuff repair failure is visualized as a fluid-filled defect on MRI.
• Previous studies focused on frequency and factors, not timing, of repair failure.
• Hypothesized that most failures occur within 12 weeks post-surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the timing of tendon healing failures after rotator cuff repair.
• To investigate the occurrence of retears in a large prospective patient cohort.

Main Methods:

• 113 patients with standardized arthroscopic rotator cuff repair underwent sequential MRI scans from 2 to 52 weeks.
• Surgeons reviewed MRIs, and clinical data, physical exams, and strength measurements were collected.
• Prospective, multi-institutional study design with Level IV evidence.

Main Results:

• 17% (19/113) of patients experienced a retear within one year, with a mean time to retear of 19.2 weeks.
• A linear increase in retears was observed over the first 26 weeks post-surgery.
• Few additional retears occurred after 26 weeks.

Conclusions:

• Rotator cuff repair failures predominantly occur between 6 and 26 weeks post-arthroscopic repair.
• A significant portion of retears happen between 12 and 26 weeks.
• The majority of tendon healing failures occur within the first six months after surgery.