Objective To compare the analgesic efficiency and safety of subacromial bursa continued ropivacaine analgesia with patient-controlled intravenous analgesia for arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Methods A total of 64 patients undergoing rotator cuff repair surgery between October 2013 and February 2015 were randomly divided into the subacromial bursa group (JFX group, 32 cases) and the patient-controlled intravenous analgesia group (JM group, 32 cases). At the end of surgery, a catheter was inserted into the subacromial bursa of the patients in JFX group under arthroscopic visualisation and fixed properly, and analgesia pump was connected after surgery; in JM group, analgesia pump was connected to the vein channel after surgery. The pain Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) (motion and rest) scores 1 hour and 12, 24, 48, 72 hours after surgery, adverse reactions, use of analgesic pump, number of additional analgesia and patients satisfaction were recorded. Results There were no differences between the two groups in the number of additional analgesia, patients satisfaction, additional use of antiemetic drugs, motion and rest VAS scores 1 hour and 12, 72 hours after surgery, and the incidence of moderate-severe pain (VAS≥4) at each time point (P>0.05). The motion and rest VAS scores 24, 48 hours after surgery in JFX group were lower than those in JM group, the analgesia times and the incidence of nausea and vomiting in JFX group were lower than those in JM group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Efficiency of subacromial bursa infiltration of ropivacaine sustained analgesic is slightly better than that of patient-controlled intravenous analgesia, with lower incidence of adverse reactions.