Rotator Cuff Tear Research

JBJS – the top journal for Orthopaedic Surgeons – publishes a great blog, Orthobuzz, and it looks at a compendium of research; it recently put together a great snipped on active research on patients that have a rotator cuff tear. It pulls together useful snippets for surgeons to be able to communicate effectively with their patients, and is well worth the look. For example, I often quote this to my patients:

A prospective evaluation of 224 subjects with asymptomatic rotator cuff tears followed annually for an average of five years found that the risk of tear enlargement and muscle degeneration was greater in full-thickness tears, and that pain and supraspinatus muscle degeneration were associated with tear enlargement.

This post is a great refresher of the recent literature regarding not only rotator cuff pathology but other shoulder pathologies (reverse shoulder arthroplasty, shoulder instability with dislocation, etc) if interested.

If you feel that you have a rotator cuff tear or might need rotator cuff surgery please make an appointment with Dr. Schwartz at 206-368-6100 or contact us today!