Prospective cohort study of 20 patients with MRI-confirmed structural failure after open rotator cuff repair. Asks the key question: does a failed repair still help patients, and should high rerupture risk deter you from attempting repair in the first place?
When counseling a patient with high rerupture risk — older age, massive tear, poor tendon quality — don't let the fear of structural failure alone steer you away from repair: even failed repairs yield significant gains in pain, function, and strength.
Watch infraspinatus integrity closely postoperatively; fatty degeneration of that muscle, not the supraspinatus, drives the outcome after failure.
Prospective cohort study of 20 patients with MRI-confirmed structural failure after open rotator cuff repair. Asks the key question: does a failed repair still help patients, and should high rerupture risk deter you from attempting repair in the first place?
When counseling a patient with high rerupture risk — older age, massive tear, poor tendon quality — don't let the fear of structural failure alone steer you away from repair: even failed repairs yield significant gains in pain, function, and strength.
Watch infraspinatus integrity closely postoperatively; fatty degeneration of that muscle, not the supraspinatus, drives the outcome after failure.