A less invasive surgery for rotator cuff tear: Mini-open repair

As a less invasive surgery of the shoulder, the mini-open repair was carrie d out From March 1997 through December 1998 in 22 patients (mini-open repai r group) For all types of rotator cuff tears, except massive tears. A trans acromial skin incision about 3 cm long was made. The anterior deltoid was s plit along its muscle Fibers, and an anterior acromioplasty was accomplishe d by using a specially designed bone rasp. The rotator cuff was repaired wi th use of the McLaughlin technique. The results were compared with those ob tained in 36 patients subjected to conventional open surgery from April 199 8 through February 1997 (control group). No significant difference was seen between the UCLA (University of California, los Angeles) shoulder scores o f the two groups I year after the repair. However, active forward Flexion i n the mini-open group was significantly greater than in the control group 3 and 6 months after surgery. With mini-open repair, patients seem to be abl e to return to sports or social activities earlier than with conventional o pen surgery.