Clin Should Elbow.  2012 Dec;15(2):86-90.

Clinical Results after Repair of Rotator Cuff Tear in Patients with Accompanying AC Joint Pathology: Clinical Comparison of Non-operative Treatment

• Yoo MJ
• Seo JB
• Lee DH
• Kim SJ

Abstract

PURPOSE
We studied the need for distal clavicle resection by comparing rotator cuff tear patients who underwent non-surgical treatment with and without acromioclavicular joint pathology.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
45 cases that had been under follow up care for at least 9 months after receiving rotator cuff repair in our hospital between Jan. 2005 and Jun. 2011 had been studied. Acromioclavicular joint pathology group and control group were classified by physical examination and MRI findings. The temporal changes in shoulder joint abduction, internal and external rotation strength, ASES and KSS score of the two groups were measured and analyzed.
RESULTS
The acromioclavicular joint pathology complicated rotator cuff injury group's strength measurements for abduction, internal rotation, external rotation were each 8.05 (+/-4.54), 11.33 (+/-6.05), 10.24 (+/-5.27) preoperatively and improved to 13.26 (+/-5.50), 17.51 (+/-6.80), 15.60 (+/-5.37) post operatively while the KSS score and ASES score were each 49.07 (+/-15.28) and 48.65 (+/-13.27) preoperatively, improving to 84.48 (+/-10.96) and 84.65. (+/-9.86). The measurements for the group without complicating acromioclavicular pathology are as follows. The strength for abduction, internal rotation, external rotation was each 6.42 (+/-3.11), 7.59 (+/-4.81) and 7.93 (+/-4.49) preoperatively, improving to 15.85 (+/-7.35), 19.18 (+/-9.14), 16.95 (+/-5.70) post operatively, while the KSS score and ASES score each went from 42.12 (+/-6.43) and 41.37 (+/-7.42) to 83.44 (+/-6.30) and 83.17 (+/-7.01) respectively. The measurements for the two groups, however, did not show a statistically significant difference (p>0.05).
CONCLUSION
Analysis of the rotator cuff injury groups with and without AC joint pathology showed that both groups had improved strength, ASES and KSS scores with no statistical difference difference among the groups. As such, it thought that conservative treatment is an acceptable alternative to distal clavicle resection.

MeSH Terms

Acromioclavicular Joint
Clavicle
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Joints
Physical Examination
Rotator Cuff
Shoulder Joint