27 patients with 27 involved shoulders underwent a second attempt at repair of an initial rotator-cuff repair that had failed. Factors associated with the failure of the initial repair included a massive or large tendon tear, damage to the deltoid origin at the original surgery, and possibly inadequate postoperative external support. 7 patients required a third operation because of continuing pain or weakness. The remaining 20 patients were followed for a minimum of 2 years (average, 48 months) and 17 of them were examined at an average of 46 months (range, 26 to 118 months) after surgery. Postoperatively, although 17 patients (63 per cent) still had moderate or severe pain, 16 (76 per cent) of the 21 patients who were operated on to relieve pain reported that the pain was substantially diminished. Active abduction increased an average of 8 degrees, but only 7 shoulders gained more than 30 degrees of active abduction. 19 shoulders remained moderately or markedly weak in abduction. Over-all, 4 patients (17 per cent) had a good result; 6 (25 per cent), a fair result; and 14 (58 per cent), a poor result. These results suggest that the surgeon should be quite hesitant to propose a second attempt at rotator cuff repair to a patient, as although pain may be diminished, active movement is unlikely to improve.
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27 patients with 27 involved shoulders underwent a second attempt at repair of an initial rotator-cuff repair that had failed. Factors associated with the failure of the initial repair included a massive or large tendon tear, damage to the deltoid origin at the original surgery, and possibly inadequate postoperative external support. 7 patients required a third operation because of continuing pain or weakness. The remaining 20 patients were followed for a minimum of 2 years (average, 48 months) and 17 of them were examined at an average of 46 months (range, 26 to 118 months) after surgery. Postoperatively, although 17 patients (63 per cent) still had moderate or severe pain, 16 (76 per cent) of the 21 patients who were operated on to relieve pain reported that the pain was substantially diminished. Active abduction increased an average of 8 degrees, but only 7 shoulders gained more than 30 degrees of active abduction. 19 shoulders remained moderately or markedly weak in abduction. Over-all, 4 patients (17 per cent) had a good result; 6 (25 per cent), a fair result; and 14 (58 per cent), a poor result. These results suggest that the surgeon should be quite hesitant to propose a second attempt at rotator cuff repair to a patient, as although pain may be diminished, active movement is unlikely to improve.
Copyright remains with the authors and publisher.