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Concomitant rotator cuff, biceps repair led to greater improvement in PROs
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Despite inferior baseline patient-reported outcomes, patients who underwent rotator cuff repair with concomitant biceps procedure had greater improvement in outcomes at 1-year postoperatively compared with patients who underwent rotator cuff repair alone, according to results.
Scott T. Watson, MD, and colleagues categorized 80 adult patients who underwent repair of a full-thickness rotator cuff tear into three groups: those who underwent rotator cuff repair and long head of the biceps tenotomy; rotator cuff repair and long head of the biceps tenodesis; or isolated rotator cuff repair. Primary outcome measures included the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, Western Ontario Rotator Cuff index and VAS for pain.
Results showed significant improvement in all three outcome measures among all rotator cuff repairs. Although patients who underwent tenotomy or tenodesis in addition to rotator cuff repair had significantly worse baseline ASES scores, researchers noted these patients had a significantly greater mean improvement in ASES, VAS and Western Ontario Rotator Cuff index at 1-year follow-up vs. patients who underwent isolated rotator cuff repair.
Linear regression analysis showed the biceps procedure was predictive of a significantly greater improvement in ASES score. Similarly, patients who underwent long head of the biceps tenotomy and tenodesis had more favorable improvement in ASES scores when compared with patients who underwent isolated rotator cuff repair, according to analysis of variance.
“The long head of the biceps may be a significant source of pain in patients with rotator cuff tears,” Watson told Healio.com/Orthopedics. “Surgeons should consider biceps tenotomy to tenodesis at the time of rotator cuff repair in patients who report biceps symptoms or demonstrate biceps findings.” – by Casey Tingle
Disclosures: Watson reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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