• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.84-93
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the repair integrity and clinical outcomes of delaminated tears following arthroscopic layered suture bridge rotator cuff repair in a prospective fashion. Materials and Methods: A consecutive series of 67 patients with delaminated rotator cuff tears who underwent surgery using the arthroscopic Layered Suture Bridge Technique were followed prospectively. Of 67 shoulders, 26 patients were male and 40 patients were female (one patient had bilateral tears); the mean age was 58.8(40~76) years. The clinical evaluation was performed according to ASES, UCLA, and KSS (Korea Shoulder Scoring System) scores with an average follow up period of 33 months. Repair integrity was estimated using MRI, which was performed six months postoperatively. Results: The average clinical outcome in ASES, UCLA, and KSS scores showed significant improvement at the time of the final follow-up compared to preoperatively, from 50.2 to 92.3, 15 to 31.3, and 54.4 to 90.7, respectively (p<0.001 for all scores). Follow up by MRI showed that 16 shoulders had a type-I; 14, a type-II; five, a type-III; two, a type-IV; one, a type-V re-tear. The overall rate of re-tear (types IV and V) was 7.9%. Conclusion: Use of the Arthroscopic Layered Suture Bridge Technique can result in improved functional and structural outcome in cases of delaminated rotator cuff tear.