RESULTS OF ARTHROSCOPIC ACROMIOPLASTY RELATED TO ROTATOR CUFF LESIONS

Seventy-nine patients with a history of the subacromial impingement sy ndrome were treated by arthroscopic acromioplasty. The results were ev aluated with a new scoring system designed to assess subjective sympto ms before and after operation. The outcome was related to the patholog ical lesions of the rotator cuff seen at arthroscopy and graded by our modification of the Neer classification. The overall results were sat isfactory in 67%, with men having better results than women. Those wit h a history of injury did better than those without, and the results i n those with partial or total cuff tears were better than those with i ntact cuffs. Since the state of the cuff affects the result, arthrosco py should precede acromioplasty.