Effect of post-operative NSAID use on rotator cuff repair outcomes

The impact of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on rotator cuff repair is an ongoing area of study within orthopedics, with conflicting results in current literature. Despite concerns over the deleterious effects of NSAIDs on rotator cuff healing, they are becoming an integral part of a multimodal post-operative pain control regiment. The purpose of this study was to compare post-operative patient-reported outcomes (PROs), complications rates, and retear rates of arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs in patients using ibuprofen post-operatively to those who abstained from NSAIDs for six weeks after surgery. It was hypothesized that a short course of ibuprofen post-operatively would not lead to inferior PRO scores, increased retear rates, nor increased complication rates after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

Patients of the primary surgeon who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair between 2012 and 2022 were evaluated by retrospective chart review. In May 2017 the primary surgeon changed his protocol from avoiding NSAIDs for six weeks after surgery to routinely prescribing two weeks of Ibuprofen 800 mg TID post-operatively. Patients who avoided NSAIDs for six weeks were compared to patients who were prescribed NSAIDs post-operatively. Patient demographic data, pre-operative MRI results, pre-operative and post-operative PROs were collected from the EMR. Additionally, post-operative complications and repair failures requiring reoperation within one year were evaluated.

125 patients met inclusion criteria for this study with 36 patients in the NSAID group and 89 in the no NSAID group. When comparing improvement in PROs, the NSAID group reached MCID at one year in 83.8 % of patients and the no NSAID group reached MCID at one year in 73.9 % of patients. There was no significant difference between the groups in reaching MCID improvement at one year (p = 0.471). Five post-operative complications were reported in the no NSAID group and two in the NSAID group (5.7 % vs 5.4 %, respectively, p = 0.827). Finally, there was no significant difference in the percentage of post-operative rotator cuff repair failures requiring revision in the first year between the groups (2.3 % vs 2.7 %, p = 1.000).

There was no difference in percent of patients improving their PRO by the MCID between the groups that used ibuprofen and the group that did not. There was also no difference in post-operative complication rates and rates of symptomatic retear requiring reoperation between the groups. This supports that a short course of NSAIDs post-operatively, specifically ibuprofen, after rotator cuff repair does not increase reoperation rates nor lead to a clinically significant decrease in PROs at one year.