Trends Associated with Open Versus Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic surgery
• Surgical trends
• Musculoskeletal research

Background:

• Rotator cuff (RTC) repair utilizes open/mini-open and arthroscopic techniques.
• Arthroscopic RTC repair is increasingly adopted, but the transition extent is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate trends in open vs. arthroscopic RTC repair in the USA.
• Analyze treatment variations by gender, age, and region.
• Hypothesize increased arthroscopic repair prevalence.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of a national insurance database (Humana) from 2007-2015.
• Patient identification via Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes.
• Statistical analysis including chi-squared tests and logistic regression.

Main Results:

• Over 54,740 RTC repairs analyzed; 68% were arthroscopic.
• Arthroscopic repair proportion rose from 56.9% (2007) to 75.1% (2015).
• Open repair increased with patient age; arthroscopic repair predominated across all US regions.

Conclusions:

• Arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery is the predominant and growing method.
• Open repair is more common in older individuals.
• Most RTC repairs are performed on patients aged 65-69.