RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Arthroscopic repair of the rotator cuff have shown have shown encouraging clinical results. However, few authors have assessed integrity of repair with ultrasound. The presence of re-rupture by ultrasonography in a rotator cuff repair may not relate to the patient's functional status. OBJECTIVE: We used ultrasonography to assess the prevalence of re-rupture in rotator cuff repairs and its clinical relevance with minimum 1 year postoperatively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Evidence level IV (Case series). We evaluated 27 shoulders that underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Clinical evaluation was performed using UCLA functional scale, visual analogue scale (UCLA, VAS). Post-operative ultrasound was performed at least 1 year postoperatively. Statistical analysis was done with the SPSS 11.0 software. RESULTS: We examined 27 shoulders, mean age 56.4 (41-78), mean postoperative follow-up 19.6 (12 m-88 m). Clinical assessment with UCLA functional scale results were: good-excellent (77.4%); fair (22.2%). VAS results showed that 44.4% reported VAS of 0; in the range of 1-3 VAS was 55.5% of the patients. Ultrasound evaluation showed no injury in 37%; partial lesion 51.9%, and a total lesion 11.1%. Thirty-three % of the patients with VAS of 0 showed no injury when evaluated by ultrasonography, injury by ultrasound 33.3% with VAS (1-3) 22.2%. UCLA (good-excellent) without injury by ultrasound 33.3% with a 44.4% degree of injury, UCLA (Fair) without injury 3.7%, with some degree of lesion 18.5%. Results no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In our series, we find that integrity of rotator cuff postoperative ultrasound, it has no effect on the functional status of patients with postoperative follow-up of at least 1 year, with UCLA and VAS.