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.