Treatment alternative for irreparable rotator cuff ruptures: Arthroscopic biodegradable balloon

The treatment of massive irreparable rotator cuff rupture has still no consensus among shoulder surgeons. It is assumed that symptomatic rotator cuff tendon rupture is accepted as irreparable if retraction amount of tendon is Patte stage 3 on MRI; degree of fatty atrophy is Goutallier stage 3 or 4; narrowing of acromiohumeral distance is lesser than 7 mm and excursion of tendon to repair has decreased and patient has severe pain. Biodegradable balloon is one of the newest methods for the treatment of irreparable massive rotator cuff ruptures.

The aim of this study was to assess shoulder function in the patients who underwent biodegradable balloon procedure for irreparable massive rotator cuff ruptures.

Arthroscopic biodegradable balloon method was carried out on the 12 patients, who presented with symptomatic irreparable massive rotator cuff rupture, from October 2010 to November 2013.

Preoperative and postoperative mean constant score of patients were 25.8 and 75.4 respectively. The mean Oxford shoulder score of the patients were 21.3 and 42.9 respectively, and mean shoulder abduction degree of the patients were73.5 and 165 respectively. All the patients stated that they were satisfied with the treatment and there was significant regression in their complaints.

If conservative treatment is insufficient for patients with irreparable rotator cuff tears, biodegradable balloon method has yielded favorable outcomes in terms of pain and functionality in comparison with other surgical methods. Moreover, lesser morbidity, short procedure time and absence of postoperative rehabilitation requirement can be considered as advantages of this method.