Retrospective study comparing magnetic resonance imaging evidence of healing of the rotator cuff with the clinical outcome following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair at 12-month postoperation

Objectives: To assess the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of Rotator Cuff healing 1 year post-repair and correlate it with the respective clinical outcome. Materials and Methods: Fifteen patients of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair were followed up regularly by clinical examination, QuickDASH score, and MRI (1 year post-operation). MRI evidence of rotator cuff healing was compared with the QuickDASH scores. Healing of the rotator cable (the weight-bearing component of the rotator cuff) was assessed and correlated with clinical outcome. Results: Of the total 15 patients, 13 had good clinical outcomes (QuickDASH score of 15–20) and <2 good outcomes (scores 37 and 41). However, only 8 of the 15 patients had good MRI evidence of cuff healing, while the rest showed minimal or no evidence of healing. Interestingly, both patients with less-than-good clinical outcomes showed good imaging evidence (traditional) of healing. On assessing rotator cable (Burkhart) healing on post-operative MRI, it was seen that it correlated with satisfactory functional recovery conversely, those patients without healing of the rotator cable had average or delayed functional recovery. Conclusion: Correlating post-operative rotator cuff MRI imaging and clinical examination findings has met mixed results traditionally. We assessed rotator cable healing on MRI images and found that they correlated with clinical results of rotator cuff function post-operative. We believe further research in this area is needed (randomized controlled trials) to establish if imaging the rotator cable healing post-operative can be used as a marker of postoperative rotator cuff function.