BIOLOGIC THERAPIES AS ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENTS IN ROTATOR CUFF REPAIR

The incidence of rotator cuff tears is on the rise; however, despite advancements in surgical techniques to augment repairs, failure rates continue to pose a challenge for orthopaedic surgeons. A poor biologic environment is believed to be partly responsible for the inadequate tissue healing sometimes associated with rotator cuff tear repairs. Consequently, to provide the missing biologic component(s) required for adequate tendon repair, treatment strategies involving the use of adjunctive biologic therapies have been evaluated. Biologic rotator cuff repair therapies-such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP), patches and scaffolds, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and cytokines-have been investigated in both animal models and human clinical trials. Biologic augmentation carries tremendous potential for improving rotator cuff healing, although the degree of short-term and long-term healing reported in the literature has varied.