SHOULDER ARTHROSCOPY

Eric M. Parsons, M.D.

Q:I have been diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear and am contemplating surgery. What can I expect in terms of outcome if I have the surgery versus leaving the tear untreated?

A:There has been ample research examining the natural progression of a rotator cuff tear and how patients fare should they choose to neglect the tear and avoid surgery. While the shoulder pain and weakness that accompany a rotator cuff tear can be temporarily improved with nonsurgical methods such as physical therapy and judicious use of pain relieving injections, the best available medical evidence consistently shows superior outcomes in patients who elect to have rotator cuff repair surgery.

A study published by Jain et al. out of Vanderbilt University was published in the November 2019 issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine. It compared two groups of patients diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear. One group received a standard nonoperative approach of physical therapy, the other group underwent rotator cuff repair surgery. The results of the study demonstrated that the surgical repair group had consistently superior results in terms of pain relief and shoulder function at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months following the initiation of treatment.

This research adds to the growing body of literature drawing the same conclusion. Namely, should you be diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear you are generally best served by having it fixed surgically. When factoring in that neglecting a rotator cuff tear for a period of time also can have deleterious effects on the outcome of later surgery, being proactive in these cases is advisable.

To learn more about rotator cuff repair surgery visit ohioshouldercenter.com

Eric M. Parsons, M.D.

Ohio Shoulder Center for Arthroscopy Lake Orthopaedic

Associates, Inc. 36060 Euclid Ave., Suite 104 Willoughby 440-942-1050 9500 Mentor Ave., Suite 210

Mentor 440-352-1711 www.ohioshouldercenter.com