[Concordance between ultrasound-arthroscopy of the shoulder in rotator cuff injury]. / Concordancia entre ecografía-artroscopía de hombro en lesión del mango rotador.

Background: Rotator cuff injury occurs over tendons that insert into the humeral tuberosity. Ultrasonography detects the size and extent of tendon tears. Its sensitivity and specificity range from 91-100% and 85-86%, respectively. It has been shown that a trained orthopedic surgeon can perform shoulder ultrasonography for the accurate diagnosis of rotator cuff pathology. Objective: To determine the concordance between ultrasound-arthroscopy of the shoulder in rotator cuff injuries at the Unidad Médica Atención Ambulatoria No. 55 (Ambulatory Care Unit No. 55) in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. Material and methods: Experimental study of a sample of 37 patients with a diagnosis of rotator cuff injury, in whom preoperative ultrasound and later shoulder arthroscopy of the same side were performed. The data were subjected to concordance with Cohen's Kappa Index. Results: There were 37 patients in whom we identified an overall concordance of 81%. Cohen's Kappa index was 0.76, considered a good concordance. Out of the 7 patients without correlation, in 1 patient the ultrasound showed partial rupture and by arthroscopy showed complete rupture of the supraspinatus. In 2 patients ultrasonography showed complete rotator cuff tear; during arthroscopy, both showed massive rotator cuff tear. Conclusions: Preoperative shoulder ultrasonography performed by traumatology presents a good concordance in the diagnosis of rotator cuff tears confirmed by arthroscopy.

Introducción: la lesión del mango rotador ocurre sobre tendones que se insertan en la tuberosidad humeral. La ecografía detecta el tamaño y la extensión de los desgarros del tendón. Su sensibilidad y especificidad oscila entre 91-100% y 85-86%, respectivamente. Se ha demostrado que un cirujano ortopédico capacitado puede hacer la ecografía del hombro para el diagnóstico preciso de la patología del manguito rotador. Objetivo: determinar la concordancia entre ecografía-artroscopía de hombro en lesiones del mango rotador en la Unidad Médica Atención Ambulatoria No. 55 de León, Guanajuato, México. Material y métodos: estudio experimental de una muestra de 37 pacientes con diagnóstico de lesión del mango rotador, en los que se realizó ecografía preoperatoria y posteriormente artroscopía de hombro del mismo lado. Los datos se sometieron a concordancia con el Índice de Kappa de Cohen. Resultados: fueron 37 pacientes en los que se identificó la concordancia global de 81%. El Índice de Kappa de Cohen fue de 0.76, considerada una buena concordancia. De los 7 pacientes sin correlación, en un paciente la ecografía mostró rotura parcial y por artroscopía mostró rotura completa del supraespinoso. En 2 pacientes la ecografía mostró rotura completa de mango rotador; durante la artroscopía, ambos mostraron rotura masiva del mango rotador. Conclusiones: la ecografía preoperatoria de hombro realizada por traumatología presenta una buena concordancia en el diagnóstico de roturas del mango rotador confirmadas por artroscopía.

Critical shoulder angle and failure of conservative treatment in patients with atraumatic full thickness rotator cuff tears.

BACKGROUND: Atraumatic full thickness rotator cuff tears (AFTRCT) are common lesions whose incidence increases with age. Physical therapy is an effective conservative treatment in these patients with a reported success rate near 85% within 12 weeks of treatment. The critical shoulder angle (CSA) is a radiographic metric that relates the glenoid inclination with the lateral extension of the acromion in the coronal plane. A larger CSA has been associated with higher incidence of AFTRCT and a higher re-tear rate after surgical treatment. However, no study has yet described an association between a larger CSA and failure of conservatory treatment in ARCT. The main objective of this study is to determine whether there is an association between CSA and failure of physical therapy in patients with AFTRCT. METHODS: We reviewed the imaging and clinical records of 48 patients (53 shoulders), 60% female, with a mean age of 63.2 years (95% CI ± 10.4 years); treated for AFTRCT who also underwent a true anteroposterior radiograph of the shoulder within a year of diagnosis of the tear. We recorded demographic (age, sex, type of work), clinical (comorbidities), and imaging data (CSA, size and location of the tear). We divided the patients into two groups according to success or failure of conservative treatment (indication for surgery), so 21 shoulders (39.6%) required surgery and were classified as failure of conservative treatment. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed to detect predictors of failure of conservative treatment. RESULTS: The median CSA was 35.5º with no differences between those with failure (median 35.5º, range 29º to 48.2º) and success of conservative treatment (median 35.45º, range 30.2º to 40.3º), p = 0.978. The multivariate analysis showed a younger age in patients with failure of conservative treatment (56.14 ± 9.2 vs 67.8 ± 8.4, p < 0.001) and that male gender was also associated with failure of conservative treatment (57% of men required surgery vs 28% of women, p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: It is still unclear if CSA does predict failure of conservative treatment. A lower age and male gender both could predicted failure of conservative treatment in AFTRCT. Further research is needed to better address this subject.

Footprint coverage comparison between knotted and knotless techniques in a single-row rotator cuff repair: biomechanical analysis.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this biomechanical study is to compare two variations of single-row knotless techniques (Knotless repair and Rip-stop Knotless repair) against a single-row double-loaded anchor (DL) repair, focused on evaluating contact pressure and contact area amongst three different single-row techniques for rotator cuff repairs. METHODS: A total of 24 fresh frozen human shoulders were tested. Specimens were randomly assigned into one of the three single-row (SR) repair groups: A Knotted single-row double-loaded anchor (DL) repair, a Knotless (K) repair, or a Knotless Rip-Stop (KRS) repair. The footprint was measured after complete detachment of the supraspinatus tendon from the greater tuberosity, introducing pressure sensors between bony footprint and detached rotator cuff, and finally reconstructing it. All specimens were mounted onto a servohydraulic test system to analyze contact variables at 0° and 30° of abduction with 0 N, 30 N and 50 N of tension. RESULTS: Groups did not differ significantly in their footprint sizes: DL group 359.75 ± 58.37 mm2, K group 386.5 ± 102.13 mm2, KRS group 415.87 ± 93.80 mm2 (p = 0.84); nor in bone mineral density: DL group 0.25 ± 0.14 g/cm2, K group 0.32 ± 0.19 g/cm2, KRS group 0.32 ± 0.13 g/cm2, (p = 0.75) or average age. The highest mean pressurized contact area measured for the K repair was 248.1 ± 50.9 mm2, which equals a reconstruction of 67.1 ± 19.3% at 0° abduction and a 50 N supraspinatus load. This reconstructed area was significantly greater compared with the DL repair 152.8 ± 73.1 mm2, reconstructing 42.0 ± 18.5% on average when under the same conditions (p = 0.04). The mean contact pressure did not significantly differ amongst groups (p = 1.0): DL group 30.8 ± 17.4 psi, K group 30.9 ± 17.4 psi and KRS group 30.0 ± 10.9 psi. Neither the 30° abduction angle nor the supraspinatus load had a significant influence on the contact pressure in our study. CONCLUSION: Both single-row knotless techniques resulted in significantly higher footprint reconstruction, providing larger contact area and a more uniform pressure distribution when compared with the single-row Knotted techniques. The mean contact pressure did not differ among groups significantly. These knotless techniques may be an alternative if the surgeon decides to perform a single-row rotator cuff repair. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Basic Science Study, Biomechanics.

Intra-articular treatment with corticosteroids increases apoptosis in human rotator cuff tears.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate in vivo the level of apoptosis in human rotator cuff tears and the relationship it might have with tendon degeneration. METHODS: Rotator cuff biopsies from 19 male and female patients, ages between 38 and 68 years, with and without previous corticosteroid infiltrations were collected via arthroscopy. Biopsies from seven patients with healthy rotator cuffs were used as a control group. An in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay was performed to detect the level of apoptosis, which was expressed as a percentage of apoptotic cells (PAC). RESULTS: PAC in patients with corticosteroid infiltrations was 76.97 ± 16.99 in all tendon rupture zones, in non-infiltrated patients was 35.89 ± 22.96, whereas in control patients was 14.48 ± 8.15. Likewise, the tendency of PAC reveals that apoptosis in control and non-infiltrated groups was different and dispersed in all tear zones; while in corticosteroid treated patients, the tendency was similar in all rupture sites. CONCLUSIONS: This investigation leads us to conclude that the administration of corticosteroid is associated with a higher amount of apoptosis at the insertion site of the rotator cuff (rupture edge).

Rotator cuff Disease: Aspects and Implications / Afección del Manguito Rotador: Aspectos e Implicancias

The objetive this study was analyze the characteristics of the rotator cuff disease carrying and its implications by the lesion evolutional stage. 112 patients with initial diagnosis of rotator cuff disease were interviewed, most of them women, average age of 51 years, right side more injured, with evidence to be the most damaged (p=0,00) and with a lot incapacity to move the upper limbs (p<0,05). The most found pathology stage was the partial rupture of supraspinatus tendon, 26,16 months of attendance and without association with pathology stages. Most of patients were treated with physiotherapy and just 19% of them were submitted to the surgery procedure. It has shown that this pathology implies in lots functional damages, affects social and work standard with high incapacities on upper limbs even after treatment.

El objetivo del estudio fue analizar las características de los portadores de la afección del manguito rotador y sus implicancias por el cuadro de la lesión. Fueron entrevistadas 112 personas, con diagnóstico inicial de afección del manguito rotador, la mayoría compuesta por mujeres de alrededor de 51 años, siendo el lado derecho más afectado, con evidencia de ser el más perjudicado (p=0,00) y con gran incapacidad de mover los miembros superiores (p<0,05). La patología más frecuente fue la ruptura parcial del tendón del músculo supraespinal, con tratamiento de 26,16 meses y sin asociación con los estados de la patología. La mayoría de los casos fueron tratados con fisioterapia, y sólo el 19% fue sometido a procedimiento quirúrgico. Se verificó que esta patología provoca grandes perjuicios funcionales, afectando tanto el ámbito social como laboral, produciendo altas incapacidades en los miembros superiores, aún después del tratamiento.