2013 Neer Award: predictors of failure of nonoperative treatment of chronic, symptomatic, full-thickness rotator cuff tears.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to help define the indications for rotator cuff repair by identifying predictors of failure of nonoperative treatment. METHODS: A prospective, multicenter, cohort study design was used. All patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears on magnetic resonance imaging were offered participation. Baseline data from this cohort were used to examine risk factors for failing a standard rehabilitation protocol. Patients who underwent surgery were defined as failing nonoperative treatment. A Cox proportional hazards model was fit to determinethe baseline factors that predicted failure. The dependent variable was time to surgery. The independent variables were tear severity and baseline patient factors: age, activity level, body mass index, sex, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score, visual analog scale score for pain, education, handedness, comorbidities, duration of symptoms, strength, employment, smoking status, and patient expectations. RESULTS: Of the 433 subjects in this study, 87 underwent surgery with 93% follow-up at 1 year and 88% follow-up at 2 years. The median age was 62 years, and 49% were female patients. Multivariate modeling, adjusted for the covariates listed previously, identified patient expectations regarding physical therapy (P < .0001) as the strongest predictor of surgery. Higher activity level (P = .011) and not smoking (P = .023) were also significant predictors of surgery. CONCLUSION: A patient's decision to undergo surgery is influenced more by low expectations regarding the effectiveness of physical therapy than by patient symptoms or anatomic features of the rotator cuff tear. As such, patient symptoms and anatomic features of the chronic rotator cuff tear may not be the best features to use when deciding on surgical intervention.

The duration of symptoms does not correlate with rotator cuff tear severity or other patient-related features: a cross-sectional study of patients with atraumatic, full-thickness rotator cuff tears.

HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to determine whether the duration of symptoms influences the features seen in patients with atraumatic, full-thickness rotator cuff tears. Our hypothesis is that an increasing duration of symptoms will correlate with more advanced findings of rotator cuff tear severity on magnetic resonance imaging, worse shoulder outcome scores, more pain, decreased range of motion, and less strength. METHODS: We enrolled 450 patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears in a prospective cohort study to assess the effectiveness of nonoperative treatment and factors predictive of success. The duration of patient symptoms was divided into 4 groups: 3 months or less, 4 to 6 months, 7 to 12 months, and greater than 12 months. Data collected at patient entry into the study included (1) demographic data, (2) history and physical examination data, (3) radiographic imaging data, and (4) validated patient-reported measures of shoulder status. Statistical analysis included a univariate analysis with the Kruskal-Wallis test and Pearson test to identify statistically significant differences in these features for different durations of symptoms. RESULTS: A longer duration of symptoms does not correlate with more severe rotator cuff disease. The duration of symptoms was not related to weakness, limited range of motion, tear size, fatty atrophy, or validated patient-reported outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: There is only a weak relationship between the duration of symptoms and features associated with rotator cuff disease.

The Predictors of Surgery for Symptomatic, Atraumatic Full-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears Change Over Time: Ten-Year Outcomes of the MOON Shoulder Prospective Cohort.

BACKGROUND: A prospective cohort study was conducted to assess the predictors of failure of nonoperative treatment, defined as the patient undergoing surgery for symptomatic, atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears. We present the 10-year follow-up data of this population to determine if predictors for surgery change over time, and secondarily we report the outcomes of the cohort. METHODS: At the time of enrollment, demographic, symptom, rotator cuff anatomy, and patient-reported outcome data were collected in patients with symptomatic, atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears. Patients underwent a standard physical therapy protocol for 6 to 12 weeks. Patient data were then collected at 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10 years. Failure of nonoperative treatment was defined as the patient electing to undergo surgery. RESULTS: Of the 452 patients in the original cohort, 20 patients (5%) withdrew from the study, 37 (9%) died before 10 years, and 40 (9%) were otherwise lost to follow-up. A total of 115 patients (27.0%) underwent a surgical procedure at some point during the 10-year follow-up period. Of these patients, 56.5% underwent surgery within 6 months of enrollment and 43.5%, between 6 months and 10 years. Low patient expectations regarding the efficacy of physical therapy were found to be a predictor of early surgery. Workers' Compensation status and activity level were more important predictors of later surgery. Patient-reported outcome measures all improved following physical therapy. For patients who did not undergo a surgical procedure, patient-reported outcome measures did not decline over the 10-year follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Low patient expectations regarding the efficacy of physical therapy were found to be a predictor of early surgery, whereas Workers' Compensation status and activity level were predictors of later surgery. Physical therapy was successful in >70% of patients with symptomatic, atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears at 10 years. Outcome measures improved with physical therapy and did not decline over the 10-year follow-up period. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Effectiveness of physical therapy in treating atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears: a multicenter prospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of a specific nonoperative physical therapy program in treating atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears using a multicenter prospective cohort study design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears who consented to enroll provided data via questionnaire on demographics, symptom characteristics, comorbidities, willingness to undergo surgery, and patient-related outcome assessments (Short Form 12 score, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, Western Ontario Rotator Cuff score, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score, and Shoulder Activity Scale). Physicians recorded physical examination and imaging data. Patients began a physical therapy program developed from a systematic review of the literature and returned for evaluation at 6 and 12 weeks. At those visits, patients could choose 1 of 3 courses: (1) cured (no formal follow-up scheduled), (2) improved (continue therapy with scheduled reassessment in 6 weeks), or (3) no better (surgery offered). Patients were contacted by telephone at 1 and 2 years to determine whether they had undergone surgery since their last visit. A Wilcoxon signed rank test with continuity correction was used to compare initial, 6-week, and 12-week outcome scores. RESULTS: The cohort consists of 452 patients. Patient-reported outcomes improved significantly at 6 and 12 weeks. Patients elected to undergo surgery less than 25% of the time. Patients who decided to have surgery generally did so between 6 and 12 weeks, and few had surgery between 3 and 24 months. CONCLUSION: Nonoperative treatment using this physical therapy protocol is effective for treating atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears in approximately 75% of patients followed up for 2 years.

The Clinical Radiographic Incidence of Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis 10 Years After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Data From the MOON Nested Cohort.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) based on clinical radiographic grading criteria at 10 years after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR) has not been well-defined in a prospective cohort of young athletic patients. HYPOTHESIS: Among young athletic patients, there is a high incidence of clinical radiographic PTOA at 10 years after ACLR. Additionally, there is a significant difference in clinical radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) changes (joint space narrowing and osteophyte formation) between ACL-reconstructed and contralateral knees at 10 years. STUDY DESIGN: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. METHODS: The first 146 patients in an ongoing nested cohort study of the Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcomes Network (MOON) prospective cohort presented for a minimum 10-year follow-up. Included patients had a sports-related ACL injury, were aged <33 years at the time of ACLR, had no history of ipsilateral or contralateral knee surgery, and did not undergo revision ACLR before follow-up. Bilateral knee metatarsophalangeal view radiographs were obtained and graded according to International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI), and modified Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) criteria by 2 blinded reviewers. The incidence and severity of ipsilateral and contralateral radiographic OA were determined among patients without a contralateral ACL injury before 10-year follow-up (N = 133). RESULTS: Interrater reliability was substantial for the IKDC (Gwet Agreement Coefficient [AC] 1 = 0.71), moderate for the KL (0.48), and almost perfect for the OARSI (0.84) grading systems. Among patients with a contralateral radiographically normal knee, the 10-year incidence of clinical radiographic PTOA after ACLR was 37% as defined by osteophytes and 23% as defined by joint space narrowing. The maximum side-to-side difference in the OARSI osteophyte grade in the medial or lateral compartment was 0 in 65% of patients, 1 in 20%, and ≥2 in 15%. The maximum side-to-side difference in the OARSI joint space narrowing grade was 0 in 77% of patients, 1 in 19%, and ≥2 in 4%. CONCLUSION: In young active patients, the 10-year incidence of clinical radiographic PTOA after ACLR was 37% as defined by osteophytes and 23% as defined by joint space narrowing. The mean difference in the degree of osteophyte formation (≤1 grade in 85%) and joint space narrowing (≤1 grade in 96%) between the ACL-reconstructed and contralateral knees was small. REGISTRATION: NCT02717559 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier).

Surgeon Agreement on the Presence of Pathologic Anterior Instability on Shoulder Imaging Studies.

BACKGROUND: In the setting of anterior shoulder instability, it is important to assess the reliability of orthopaedic surgeons to diagnose pathologic characteristics on the 2 most common imaging modalities used in clinical practice: standard plain radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). PURPOSE: To assess the intra- and interrater reliability of diagnosing pathologic characteristics associated with anterior shoulder instability using standard plain radiographs and MRI. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: Patient charts at a single academic institution were reviewed for anterior shoulder instability injuries. The study included 40 sets of images (20 radiograph sets, 20 MRI series). The images, along with standardized evaluation forms, were distributed to 22 shoulder/sports medicine fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons over 2 points in time. Kappa values for inter- and intrarater reliability were calculated. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 91%. For shoulder radiographs, interrater agreement was fair to moderate for the presence of glenoid lesions (κ = 0.49), estimate of glenoid lesion surface area (κ = 0.59), presence of a Hill-Sachs lesion (κ = 0.35), and estimate of Hill-Sachs surface area (κ = 0.50). Intrarater agreement was moderate for radiographs (κ = 0.48-0.57). For shoulder MRI, interrater agreement was fair to moderate for the presence of glenoid lesions (κ = 0.44), glenoid lesion surface area (κ = 0.35), Hill-Sachs lesion (κ = 0.33), Hill-Sachs surface area (κ = 0.28), humeral head edema (κ = 0.41), and presence of a capsulolabral injury (κ = 0.36). Fair agreement was found for specific type of capsulolabral injury (κ = 0.21). Intrarater agreement for shoulder MRI was moderate for the presence of glenoid lesion (κ = 0.59), presence of a Hill-Sachs lesion (κ = 0.52), estimate of Hill-Sachs surface area (κ = 0.50), humeral head edema (κ = 0.51), and presence of a capsulolabral injury (κ = 0.53), and agreement was substantial for glenoid lesion surface area (κ = 0.63). Intrarater agreement was fair for determining the specific type of capsulolabral injury (κ = 0.38). CONCLUSION: Fair to moderate agreement by surgeons was found when evaluating imaging studies for anterior shoulder instability. Agreement was similar for identifying pathologic characteristics on radiographs and MRI. There was a trend toward better agreement for the presence of glenoid-sided injury. The lowest agreement was observed for specific capsulolabral injuries.

A double-blind comparison between epidural morphine and epidural clonidine in patients with chronic non-cancer pain.

In a randomised double-blind study of 20 patients with chronic pain, epidural morphine 5 mg in 5 ml of saline was compared with epidural clonidine 150 micrograms in 5 ml of saline. Thirteen patients had a clinical and radiological diagnosis of arachnoiditis, 6 had low back pain and 1 had post-operative scar pain. There were 18 females and 2 males with an average age of 52 years, range 22-76 years. There was no difference found between the 2 solutions in the resultant analgesia measured by the visual analogue scale for pain, pain relief or the pain word score during the 3 h period of the study. No difference was found in the patient's mood which was also measured with the visual analogue scale. Two patients had no analgesia from either injection, 2 patients did not obtain any relief from clonidine and another 2 obtained no relief from morphine. Six patients reported that clonidine was better than morphine, 5 reported that morphine and clonidine were the same and 3 reported that morphine was better than clonidine. The duration of analgesia from the clonidine varied from 6 h to 1 month; the duration of analgesia from morphine varied from 6 to 24 h. Clonidine was associated with sedation and a fall in blood pressure of greater than 20 mm Hg in all patients, 1 patient required ephedrine to treat hypotension. Twelve patients had pruritus, 7 nausea and 2 vomiting following the morphine. Statistically there was no difference found between morphine and clonidine for short-term (3 h) analgesia in these patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Symptoms of pain do not correlate with rotator cuff tear severity: a cross-sectional study of 393 patients with a symptomatic atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tear.

BACKGROUND: For many orthopaedic disorders, symptoms correlate with disease severity. The objective of this study was to determine if pain level is related to the severity of rotator cuff disorders. METHODS: A cohort of 393 subjects with an atraumatic symptomatic full-thickness rotator-cuff tear treated with physical therapy was studied. Baseline pretreatment data were used to examine the relationship between the severity of rotator cuff disease and pain. Disease severity was determined by evaluating tear size, retraction, superior humeral head migration, and rotator cuff muscle atrophy. Pain was measured on the 10-point visual analog scale (VAS) in the patient-reported American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score. A linear multiple regression model was constructed with use of the continuous VAS score as the dependent variable and measures of rotator cuff tear severity and other nonanatomic patient factors as the independent variables. Forty-eight percent of the patients were female, and the median age was sixty-one years. The dominant shoulder was involved in 69% of the patients. The duration of symptoms was less than one month for 8% of the patients, one to three months for 22%, four to six months for 20%, seven to twelve months for 15%, and more than a year for 36%. The tear involved only the supraspinatus in 72% of the patients; the supraspinatus and infraspinatus, with or without the teres minor, in 21%; and only the subscapularis in 7%. Humeral head migration was noted in 16%. Tendon retraction was minimal in 48%, midhumeral in 34%, glenohumeral in 13%, and to the glenoid in 5%. The median baseline VAS pain score was 4.4. RESULTS: Multivariable modeling, controlling for other baseline factors, identified increased comorbidities (p = 0.002), lower education level (p = 0.004), and race (p = 0.041) as the only significant factors associated with pain on presentation. No measure of rotator cuff tear severity correlated with pain (p > 0.25). CONCLUSIONS: Anatomic features defining the severity of atraumatic rotator cuff tears are not associated with the pain level. Factors associated with pain are comorbidities, lower education level, and race. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.