Gw. Misamore et al., REPAIR OF THE ROTATOR CUFF - A COMPARISON OF RESULTS IN 2 POPULATIONSOF PATIENTS, Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume, 77(9), 1995, pp. 1335-1339
One hundred and seven shoulders of 103 consecutive patients were evalu
ated after primary repair of the rotator cuff. Twenty-four patients we
re receiving Workers' Compensation, and the other seventy-nine were no
t. Preoperative and postoperative evaluation of both groups included s
ubjective assessment of pain, function, and patient satisfaction as we
ll as objective assessment of the strength and active range of motion
of the shoulder. The shoulder-rating scale of the University of Califo
rnia at Los Angeles was used to determine over-all success rates. The
duration of follow-up ranged from twenty-four to sixty-eight months (m
ean, forty-five months). The two groups were comparable with regard to
the age and sex of the patients, the size of the tear of the rotator
cuff, and the preoperative strength, pain, and active range of motion
of the shoulder. Over-all, a successful result was achieved in eighty-
nine of the 107 shoulders. Of the twenty-four shoulders of patients wh
o were receiving Workers' Compensation, thirteen (54 per cent) were ra
ted good or excellent, compared with seventy-six (92 per cent) of the
eighty-three shoulders of patients who were not receiving Workers' Com
pensation. Ten (42 per cent) of the twenty-four patients who were rece
iving Workers' Compensation returned to full activity, compared with s
eventy-four (94 per cent) of the seventy-nine patients who were not.