Prospectively collected cohort study evaluating whether SCR with fascia lata autograft, performed as a reinforcement layer before arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, improves tendon healing on MRI compared to repair alone in patients with severely degenerated but reparable medium-to-large rotator cuff tears.
When you encounter a medium-to-large rotator cuff tear with severe preoperative supraspinatus degeneration on MRI (markedly thinned tendon, significant fatty infiltration, or medial retraction in ≥2 categories) but the tendon still reaches the footprint at arthroscopy, adding SCR reinforcement beneath the repair may eliminate retear risk without compromising functional recovery — the key intraoperative decision point is reducibility to the native footprint.
Prospectively collected cohort study evaluating whether SCR with fascia lata autograft, performed as a reinforcement layer before arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, improves tendon healing on MRI compared to repair alone in patients with severely degenerated but reparable medium-to-large rotator cuff tears.
When you encounter a medium-to-large rotator cuff tear with severe preoperative supraspinatus degeneration on MRI (markedly thinned tendon, significant fatty infiltration, or medial retraction in ≥2 categories) but the tendon still reaches the footprint at arthroscopy, adding SCR reinforcement beneath the repair may eliminate retear risk without compromising functional recovery — the key intraoperative decision point is reducibility to the native footprint.