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Sleep disturbance continued long-term after rotator cuff repair
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Patients continued to experienced sleep disturbance at 24 months after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, especially patients who used narcotic pain medication, according to results.
Luke Austin, MD, and colleagues collected patient outcomes using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score, simple shoulder test, VAS for pain and single assessment numeric evaluation (SANE) for 56 patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair and had a 2-year follow-up. Researchers compared the newly obtained scores with previous scores that ranged from preoperatively to 6 months postoperatively.
Results showed 66% of patients were available for follow-up at a minimum of 24 months after surgery. Despite the statistically significant improvement of the PSQI score being maintained from 6 months postoperatively to beyond 24 months postoperatively, researchers noted 41% of patients had a PSQI score of greater than 5, which was indicative of sleep disturbance. However, patients with a PSQI score of greater than 5 at more than 24 months postoperatively had an improved mean PSQI score of 9.3 compared with a mean PSQI score of 11.5 among patients with a PSQI score of greater than 5 at 6 months postoperatively. At greater than 24 months, researchers found continued improvement for both the simple shoulder test and VAS pain score, with a moderate strength correlation to the PSQI score found with both scores.
According to results of a regression model, continued use of narcotic pain medication correlated with poor sleep. Results showed patients using narcotic pain medication had a higher mean PSQI score as postoperative time increased. Researchers noted mean PSQI score was 7.4 points higher among patients using narcotics at greater than 24 months postoperatively vs. patients not using narcotics. – by Casey Tingle
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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