Arthroscopically assisted mini‐open rotator cuff repair

PURPOSE: To review the results of arthroscopically assisted mini-open rotator cuff repair. TYPE OF STUDY: Retrospective clinical review. METHODS: From 1990 to 1994, 67 patients (69 shoulders) had a rotator cuff repair for a full-thickness tear; 63 of these patients had an arthroscopically assisted mini-open rotator cuff repair. Of these, 22 were lost to follow-up; thus, 41 patients were retrospectively reviewed for this study. The average patient age was 51 years and the average follow-up was 36 months. UCLA scores incorporating preoperative and postoperative pain, function, strength, and range of motion data were used to analyze the results. RESULTS: At follow-up, 38 patients (93%) were rated as excellent or good, 3 patients (7%) were rated as fair, and none was rated as poor. All patients showed improvement in pain and function after surgery and all of the patients were satisfied with the procedure. The average UCLA score was 32.3. There was a small but significant (P <.0001) difference between UCLA scores of Workers' Compensation patients (UCLA score, 29; n = 11) versus noncompensation patients (UCLA score, 33; n = 30). In addition, the return-to-work interval was prolonged in the Workers' Compensation cases. There were no significant differences in UCLA scores on the basis of tear size (P <.4286) or patient age (P <.1131). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the arthroscopically assisted mini-open technique for rotator cuff repair is an excellent approach for repair of a torn rotator cuff.