Sling immobilization may improve sleep quality vs. bracing after rotator cuff surgery
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Key takeaways:
- Sling immobilization yielded improved sleep quality, decreased anxiety and increased satisfaction after rotator cuff repair vs. bracing.
- Slings and braces had similar functional and imaging outcomes at 1 year.
Sling immobilization for 6 weeks after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair yielded improved sleep quality, decreased anxiety and increased satisfaction with similar clinical outcomes compared with abduction brace use, according to study data.
Xuelun Li, MD, and colleagues from the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in China performed a randomized controlled trial with 131 patients with rotator cuff tears who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with 1-year follow-up.
Li and colleagues randomly assigned 66 patients to receive postoperative immobilization with an anti-rotation sling and 65 patients to receive postoperative immobilization with an abduction brace. According to the researchers, patients were immobilized for the first 6 weeks postoperatively.
“Whereas the brace puts the shoulder in an abducted position, the sling posits the humerus in adduction, which has been suggested to be more comfortable and less sleep-disturbing compared with the abduction position,” the researchers wrote.
Li and colleagues assessed outcomes for Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, self-rating anxiety scale, numeric rating scale (NRS) pain score and tendon healing at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year.
At 6 weeks, PSQI scores indicated a statistically significant advantage for the sling group (9.2) vs. the bracing group (11.1). The sling group had decreased self-rating anxiety scale scores and NRS pain scores, as well as increased satisfaction scores, at 6 weeks compared with the bracing group. In addition, Li and colleagues found tendon healing rates were similar between the sling group (88%) and the bracing group (91%) at 1 year.
“These findings indicate that a sling is appropriate for the postoperative care of [arthroscopic rotator cuff repair],” Li and colleagues wrote. “However, caution should be used when interpreting these results because the clinical relevance of sling-related benefits warrants further investigation.”
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