Prevalence of Rotator Cuff Repairs with and Without Concomitant Subacromial Decompressions Has Not Changed

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Musculoskeletal Research
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Recent data suggested a decline in subacromial decompression (SAD) during rotator cuff repair (RCR) among younger orthopedic surgeons.
• This trend prompted an investigation into the procedural rates and variations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the rates of rotator cuff repair (RCR) performed with and without subacromial decompression (SAD).
• To assess if the rate of RCR with SAD has decreased over time.
• To identify significant state-level variations in the rate of RCR with SAD.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of de-identified national health insurance data from 2010 to 2012.
• Calculation of RCR rates with and without open or arthroscopic SAD.
• Normalization of data per 10,000 insured patients for comparative analysis.

Main Results:

• Rotator cuff repair (RCR) with concomitant subacromial decompression (SAD) was performed more frequently than RCR alone across all analyzed years and age groups.
• The overall rate of RCR with or without SAD did not decline during the 2010-2012 study period.
• Significant geographic variation in RCR with SAD rates was observed among different states.

Conclusions:

• The study disproved the hypothesis of a decreasing rate of RCR with SAD between 2010 and 2012.
• Wide variations in RCR with SAD rates exist across states, but this variation was not linked to the incidence of SAD itself.