Objective To explore the mid-term effectiveness of arthroscopic “mini incision” transtendon repair for partial articular-sided supraspinatus tendon avulsion (PASTA) lesion. Methods A clinical data of 39 patients with PASTA lesions, who underwent the arthroscopic “mini incision” transtendon repair and met the selected criteria between May 2017 and April 2021, was retrospectively analyzed. There were 13 males and 26 females, with an average age of 63.7 years (range, 43-76 years). Nine patients underwent trauma history, and no obvious inducement was found in the other 30 patients. The main clinical symptom was shoulder pain with positive hug resistance test. The interval from symptom onset to operation was 3-21 months (mean, 8.3 months). The visual analogue scale (VAS) score, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder score, American Association of Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score and shoulder range of motion (ROM) of forward flexion, abduction, and external rotation were used to evaluate shoulder function. MRI was performed to assess the structural integrity and tension of reattached tendon. Patient satisfactions were calculated at last follow-up. Results All incisions healed by first intention with no complications such as incision infection or nerve injury. All patients were followed up 24-71 months (mean, 46.9 months). The VAS, UCLA, and ASES scores significantly improved at 24 months after operation when compared with preoperative ones (P<0.05). The ROMs of forward flexion and external rotation of the shoulder joint significantly increased at 3 and 24 months, and further increased at 24 months compared to 3 months, with significant differences (P<0.05). However, the ROM of abduction of the shoulder joint at 3 months did not significantly improve compared with that before operation (P>0.05), and it was significantly greater at 24 months than before operation and at 3 months after operation (P<0.05). At last follow-up, the patients were very satisfied with the effectiveness in 30 cases (76.9%), satisfied in 5 cases (12.8%), and dissatisfied in 4 cases (10.3%). At 6 months after operation, 31 patients underwent reviews of MRI scans, of which 28 patients possessed intact structural integrity, good tendon tension and tendon healing, and 3 patients underwent tendon re-tear. ConclusionArthroscopic “mini incision” transtendon repair in treatment of PASTA lesion could obtain satisfying mid-term effectiveness with low risk of tendon re-tear.
ObjectiveTo investigate the early effectiveness of arthroscopic repair of supraspinatus tendon tears with douple-pulley suture-bridge. Methods The clinical data of 38 patients with supraspinatus tendon tears who met the selection criteria between September 2020 and July 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, and all of them were treated with arthroscopic double-pulley suture-bridge technique. There were 15 males and 23 females, aged from 43 to 77 years, with an average of 61.5 years. There were 15 cases of left shoulder and 23 cases of right shoulder. Seven cases had a history of trauma, and the other 31 cases had no obvious inducement. The main clinical symptoms of the patient were pain in lifting the shoulder joint and hug resistance test (+). The time from onset of symptoms to admission ranged from 6 to 19 months, with an average of 10.3 months. Flexion, abduction, and external rotation of the shoulder were recorded before operation and at 3 and 12 months after operation. Pain and function of the shoulder were evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS) score, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder score, and American Society of Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score before operation and at 12 months after operation. Tendon healing, tendon continuity, and tension were evaluated by MRI at 3-6 months after operation, and patient’s satisfaction was evaluated at last follow-up. ResultsAll the incisions healed by first intention, and there was no complication such as incision infection or nerve injury. All patients were followed up 12-34 months, with an average of 23.3 months. VAS score, UCLA shoulder score, and ASES score at 12 months after operation were significantly better than those before operation (P<0.05). The external rotation range of shoulder joint significantly improved at 3 and 12 months after operation (P<0.05), and it further improved at 12 months after operation when compared with 3 months after operation (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the range of flexion and abduction at 3 months after operation when compared with those before operation (P>0.05), but the range of flexion and abduction at 12 months after operation significantly improved when compared with those before operation and at 3 months after operation (P<0.05). MRI reexamination was performed in 28 patients at 3-6 months after operation. Among them, 25 patients had intact supraspinatus tendon structure, good tension, and tendon healing, and 3 patients had type 1 retear. The remaining 10 patients refused to undergo MRI reexamination because of the satisfactory effectiveness. At last follow-up, 29 patients (76.3%) were very satisfied with the results, 6 (15.7%) were satisfied, and 3 (7.8%) were not satisfied. ConclusionArthroscopic double-pulley suture-bridge technique can achieve the effect of suture bridge operation, reduce the cost of operation and the risk of type 2 retear, and the early effectiveness is satisfactory, but the shoulder joint movement is limited within 3 months after operation.
Objective To explore the early effectiveness of arthroscopic tri-anchor double-pulley suture-bridge in treatment of medium-size supraspinatus tendon tears. Methods Between December 2020 and January 2023, 40 patients with medium-size supraspinatus tendon tears were treated with arthroscopic tri-anchor double-pulley suture-bridge. There were 18 males and 22 females, with an average age of 62.6 years (mean, 45-73 years). Among them, 17 patients had trauma history. The main clinical symptom was shoulder pain with hug resistance test (+). The interval from symptom onset to operation was 10.7 months on average (range, 3-36 months). Visual analogue scale (VAS) score, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) score, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, and shoulder range of motion (ROM) of forward flexion, abduction, and external rotation were used to evaluate shoulder function. MRI was performed to assess the structural integrity and tension of reattached tendon. Patient satisfactions were calculated at last follow-up. Results All incisions healed by first intention, no complications such as incision infection or nerve injury occurred. All patients were followed up 12-37 months (mean, 18.2 months). At 12 months after operation, VAS score, UCLA score, and ASES score significantly improved when compared with the preoperative scores (P<0.05). At 3 and 12 months after operation, the ROM of external rotation significantly improved when compared with preoperative one (P<0.05), and further improved at 12 months after operation (P<0.05). However, the ROMs of abduction and forward flexion did not improve at 3 months after operation when compared with those before operation (P>0.05), but significantly improved at 12 months after operation (P<0.05). Twenty-six patients underwent MRI at 3-6 months, of which 23 patients possessed intact structural integrity, good tendon tension, and tendon healing; 3 patients underwent tendon re-tear. The self-rated satisfaction rate was 92.5% at last follow-up. Conclusion Arthroscopic tri-anchor double-pulley suture-bridge in treatment of medium-size supraspinatus tendon tears can maximize the tendon-bone contact area, obtain satisfied early effectiveness with high satisfaction rate and low incidence of tendon re-tear. However, the function of abduction is limited at 3 months after operation, and patients need to adhere to rehabilitation training to further improve the joint activity.
Objective To compare effectiveness of injecting platelet-rich plasma (PRP) with different concentrations of leukocytes under ultrasound in treatment of supraspinatus tendon injury. Methods A clinical data of 30 patients with supraspinatus tendon injury, who met the selection criteria and were admitted between December 2022 and December 2023, was retrospectively analyzed. Thirty patients were treated with 4 injections of leukocyte-poor PRP (LP-PRP, n=10), leukocyte-rich PRP (LR-PRP, n=11), and triamcinolone (n=9), with an interval of 7-10 days between each injection. There was no significant difference between groups (P>0.05) in the age, gender, disease duration, affected shoulder side, Ellman classification, preoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Constant score, Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score, and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score. At 1, 3, and 6 months after injection, the shoulder pain and function were evaluated by using the VAS score, Constant score, DASH score, and ASES score. MRI was conducted to observe supraspinatus tendon healing. Results No severe adverse reactions was observed in all groups. All patients were followed up 6-7 months, with an average of 6.5 months. After injection, the ASES score and Constant score gradually increased in the LR-PRP group and LP-PRP group, while the VAS score and DASH score decreased, with significant differences compared to before injection (P<0.05). Except for no significant difference between 3 and 6 months after injection in LR-PRP group (P>0.05), the above scores showed significant differences between different time points (P<0.05). At 1 month after injection, the Constant score in triamcinolone group significantly increased compared to before injection, while the VAS score significantly decreased (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in all scores between other time points in the triamcinolone group (P>0.05). Except for 1 month after injection, there was no significant difference in Constant score and VAS score between groups (P>0.05). At all other time points, the LR-PRP group and LP-PRP group had better scores than the triamcinolone group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the LR-PRP group and the LP-PRP group (P>0.05). MRI showed that only 4 patients in the LP-PRP group had signs of repair at the supraspinatus tendon injury site at 6 months after injection, while no significant tendon repair sign was observed in the other patients. Conclusion Compared with triamcinolone treatment, multiple injections of LP-PRP and LR-PRP under ultrasound can promote the recovery of shoulder joint function and significantly relieve pain in patients with supraspinatus tendon injury, and imaging improvement can be seen after LP-PRP treatment.