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Home-based exercise shows results comparable to occupational therapy for conservatively treated rotator cuff tears
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Patients who performed home-based exercises as a conservative treatment for full-thickness rotator cuff tears showed no significant differences at 2-month follow-up for pain or function compared to those who received formal occupational therapy, according to results from this prospective randomized study.
“Home-based exercise, on the basis of an illustrated booklet with exercises twice a day, supplies comparable results to formal occupational therapy in the conservative treatment of rotator cuff tears,” Gert Krischak, MD, MBA, and colleagues wrote in their study abstract. “The results of this pilot study suggest some potential advantages related to [the] psychological benefits [of] using home-based treatment.”
Krischak and colleagues studied the results of 43 patients who had rotator cuff tears confirmed by tomography and clinical signs of chronic rotator cuff impingement. The patients were randomized to participate in either a home-based exercise program or occupational therapy, according to the abstract.
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Regardless of treatment, 66% of patients had improved clinical shoulder test results at follow-up.
The investigators found that pain, range of motion, abduction, external rotation, Constant-Murley scores and EQ-5D index scores were not significantly different between groups. However, health-related quality of life scores were higher in the home-based exercise group.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.
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