The effect of 12-month arthroscopic rotator cuff repair integrity on functional outcomes: a multi-centre study

Abstract Background Recurrent defects following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair are common. However, their relationship to functional outcomes and symptoms remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between rotator cuff repair integrity at 12 months and functional outcomes over a 24-month period. Materials and methods A total of 543 patients undergoing arthroscopic repair for rotator cuff tears were enrolled from nine orthopaedic centres. Clinical and patient-reported outcomes were assessed at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months. Medical imaging was performed at baseline and at 12 months. Patients were grouped according to the repair integrity at 12 months or the occurrence of a symptomatic recurrent defect within 12 months. Adjusted generalised linear mixed models were used to compare clinical and patient-reported outcomes. Results Overall, 299 asymptomatic patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging at 12 months ( n = 203 intact repairs, n = 41 partial recurrent defects, n = 55 full recurrent defects), and 31 patients out of 543 developed a symptomatic recurrent defects. Clinical and patient-reported outcomes improved postoperatively. Both asymptomatic recurrent defect groups showed comparable ranges of motion, abduction strength, and pain levels to the intact repair group ( P ≥ 0.071). The symptomatic recurrent defect group performed the worst overall ( P ≤ 0.009). The Constant score, Oxford Shoulder Score, Subjective Shoulder Value, and EQ-5D-5L Utility Index were similar between asymptomatic and intact repair groups ( P ≥ 0.086). The symptomatic group had the lowest proportion of patients (up to 81%) reaching an acceptable symptom state across the investigated scores, with significant differences compared with the intact repair group ( P ≤ 0.001). Current smoking and cartilage lesions of the humeral head and glenoid were more prevalent in the symptomatic group and showed a marked between-group difference. Conclusion Patients with asymptomatic recurrent defects performed comparably to those with intact repairs up to 24 months postoperatively. Patients with symptomatic recurrent defects showed clinically relevant deficits. Future predictive models should target symptomatic recurrent defects, allowing for customisation of patient-specific treatments and rehabilitation. Trial registration Ethical approval was obtained from the responsible ethics committee (Ethics Committee Northwest Switzerland EKNZ 2019-02076), and the study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov on March 24, 2020 (trial registration number NCT04321005, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04321005 ).

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology
Published
2026-10-31
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s10195-026-00964-0
Primary Topic
Shoulder Injury and Treatment
Type
article
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0.00

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article

The effect of 12-month arthroscopic rotator cuff repair integrity on functional outcomes: a multi-centre study

Florian Schönweger, Michael Christoph Glanzmann, Bettina Hochreiter, Julian Hasler et al.
Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology
Shoulder Injury and Treatment
article

The effect of 12-month arthroscopic rotator cuff repair integrity on functional outcomes: a multi-centre study

Florian Schönweger, Michael Christoph Glanzmann, Bettina Hochreiter, Julian Hasler, Hans‐Kaspar Schwyzer, Paul Borbas, Stefan Diermayr, Christian Jung, Christian Candrian, Holger Durchholz, Sebastian Müller, Farah Selman, Eleonora Croci, Samy Bouaicha, Roy P. Marcus, Barbara Wirth, Philemon Grimm, Christian Gerber, Michael O. Schär, Britta Hansen, Nicolas Gallusser, Ralph Ringer, Claudio Rosso, Rainer Josef Egli, Johannes Weihs, Christian Appenzeller‐Herzog, Soheila Aghlmandi, Martin Olach, Emanuel Benninger, Jan Rechsteiner, Karl Wieser, Martina Wehrli, Anita Hasler, Lena Maria Öhrström, Reto Sutter, Markus Thomas Scheibel, Matthias S. Biner, Cécile E. Grobet, Thomas Stojanov, Grégory James Cunningham, Ulf Riede, Fabian Napieralski, Sabrina Catanzaro, Laurent Audigé, Roland Stefan Camenzind, Markus Saner, Christian Spross, Florian Freislederer, Matthias A. Zumstein, Pietro Feltri, Matthias P. Flury, Kushtrim Grezda, David L. B. Schwappach, Markus Pisan, Julia A. Müller-Lebschi, Kate Gerber, Mai Lan Dao Trong, Cornelia Baum, Vilijam Zdravkovic, Florian Grubhofer, Christine Ehrmann, Francesco Marbach, Filippo Grande, Philipp Moroder, Sabina Hunziker, Marije de Jong, Giuseppe Filardo, Carlos Hernando Buitrago-Téllez, Susanne Bensler, Michael Badulescu, Yannick Fritz, Doruk Akgün, Karim Eid, Franziska Eckers, Marco Etter, Annabel Hayoz, Christophe Spormann, Stephanie Lüscher, Jörg Scheler, Simone Hatz, Giorgio Tamborrini-Schütz, Claudia Haag-Schumacher, Stephanie Erdbrink, Ralph Berther, Larissa Hübscher, Bernhard Jost, Mohy E. Taha, Paolo Lombardo, Beat Kaspar Moor, Isabella Weiß, Alexandre Lädermann, Christoph Spormann, Jan Schätz, Eduardo Samaniego, Daniela Brune, ARCR_Pred Study Group, Fabrizio Moro, Thomas Suter, Sabine Wyss
article en

Abstract

Abstract Background Recurrent defects following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair are common. However, their relationship to functional outcomes and symptoms remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between rotator cuff repair integrity at 12 months and functional outcomes over a 24-month period. Materials and methods A total of 543 patients undergoing arthroscopic repair for rotator cuff tears were enrolled from nine orthopaedic centres. Clinical and patient-reported outcomes were assessed at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months. Medical imaging was performed at baseline and at 12 months. Patients were grouped according to the repair integrity at 12 months or the occurrence of a symptomatic recurrent defect within 12 months. Adjusted generalised linear mixed models were used to compare clinical and patient-reported outcomes. Results Overall, 299 asymptomatic patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging at 12 months ( n = 203 intact repairs, n = 41 partial recurrent defects, n = 55 full recurrent defects), and 31 patients out of 543 developed a symptomatic recurrent defects. Clinical and patient-reported outcomes improved postoperatively. Both asymptomatic recurrent defect groups showed comparable ranges of motion, abduction strength, and pain levels to the intact repair group ( P ≥ 0.071). The symptomatic recurrent defect group performed the worst overall ( P ≤ 0.009). The Constant score, Oxford Shoulder Score, Subjective Shoulder Value, and EQ-5D-5L Utility Index were similar between asymptomatic and intact repair groups ( P ≥ 0.086). The symptomatic group had the lowest proportion of patients (up to 81%) reaching an acceptable symptom state across the investigated scores, with significant differences compared with the intact repair group ( P ≤ 0.001). Current smoking and cartilage lesions of the humeral head and glenoid were more prevalent in the symptomatic group and showed a marked between-group difference. Conclusion Patients with asymptomatic recurrent defects performed comparably to those with intact repairs up to 24 months postoperatively. Patients with symptomatic recurrent defects showed clinically relevant deficits. Future predictive models should target symptomatic recurrent defects, allowing for customisation of patient-specific treatments and rehabilitation. Trial registration Ethical approval was obtained from the responsible ethics committee (Ethics Committee Northwest Switzerland EKNZ 2019-02076), and the study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov on March 24, 2020 (trial registration number NCT04321005, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04321005 ).

Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology
University of Basel (CH), University Hospital of Basel (CH), Kantonsspital Winterthur (CH), Schulthess-Klinik (CH)
Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Orthopädie und Traumotologie, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, SUVA
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Shoulder Injury and Treatment
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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