Systematic review and meta-analysis of 108 studies (8,011 shoulders) examining what factors predict anatomic retear and clinical outcome after rotator cuff repair, drawing on the full English-language literature published between 1980 and 2012.
When counseling patients before rotator cuff repair, quote roughly a 1-in-4 anatomic failure rate by 2 years and escalate that estimate for older patients with large/massive tears and Goutallier grade ≥2 fatty infiltration — these are your highest-risk patients.
Reassure them that meaningful pain and function gains occur even when the repair fails structurally, but set realistic expectations that intact repairs do score measurably better.
Systematic review and meta-analysis of 108 studies (8,011 shoulders) examining what factors predict anatomic retear and clinical outcome after rotator cuff repair, drawing on the full English-language literature published between 1980 and 2012.
When counseling patients before rotator cuff repair, quote roughly a 1-in-4 anatomic failure rate by 2 years and escalate that estimate for older patients with large/massive tears and Goutallier grade ≥2 fatty infiltration — these are your highest-risk patients.
Reassure them that meaningful pain and function gains occur even when the repair fails structurally, but set realistic expectations that intact repairs do score measurably better.