Functional outcomes and repair integrity after arthroscopic repair of partial articular supraspinatus tendon avulsion

IntroductionPartial-thickness rotator cuff tears are a common cause of shoulder pain and disability. Arthroscopic repair is an effective treatment for partial articular supraspinatus tendon avulsion (PASTA) lesions, and transtendon repair and completion of the tear and repair are the surgical techniques commonly used to treat such lesions. Our aim was to retrospectively evaluate the minimum 24-month clinical and radiological results of PASTA.Materials and methodsPatients suffering from PASTA lesion who underwent arthroscopic repair with a minimum 24-month follow-up were included in this study. The Constant and Murley score (CMS) was used to assess the patients' functionality pre- and postoperatively. The postoperative patient assessment included the simple shoulder test (SST). Postoperative tendon integrity was evaluated by ultrasound examination.Results151 patients (153 shoulders) were retrospectively evaluated 73.9 (24-142)months after a completion-repair (94 cases) or transtendon repair (59 cases) of a PASTA lesion. The CMS significantly improved from 47.7 (22-63) preoperatively to 84.2 (62-100) postoperatively (p<0.001). The mean postoperative SST score was 10.1 (5-12), and 95% of patients were satisfied with the surgery. No significant differences were noted between the two techniques in terms of postoperative CMS, SST score and satisfaction. Seventy-four and 43 cases treated with completion and repair and transtendon repair, respectively, performed ultrasound examination 66.1 (24-142) months after surgery. The overall retear rate was 13.7%, supraspinatus retears were observed in ten shoulder subjected to completion and repair (13.5%) and six shoulders subjected to transtendon repair (13.9%), and no significant differences were noted between the two techniques as for CMS (p=0.896), SST (p=0.973), satisfaction (p=0.621) and retear (p=0.999). Males and younger patients had a higher postoperative CMS (p values<0.001), and SST score (p<0.001 and p=0.038, respectively).ConclusionsArthroscopic repair of PASTA lesion achieves high rates of repair integrity regardless of repair type and high levels of functional recovery and patient satisfaction 6years after surgery.