What makes the practice of medicine an art and not a science is the following:
The ability of the surgeon to see the problem within the patient's living environment, function and health status. The ability to understand the needs of the patient, the activity level, the reliability and willingness of the patient to get better and follow the postoperative instructions is a lifelong learning process for the practicing physician. Any underlying health or personality factors that may affect the outcome need to taken into account before offering complex or even simple reconstructive rotator cuff surgery.
The following cases are examples of fitting a treatment plan or surgery to the profile and problem of a particular patient with a complex rotator cuff tear. A torn rotator cuff should never be approached with the only dilemma in mind "to fix or not to fix the torn tendons". This is illustrated below with two case examples.
Case 1:
The following case represents a patient in his 70s who had 2 prior failed rotator cuff repairs. There were "heroic attempts" at repair of the rotator cuff which is indicated in the x-rays below. The number of the metallic anchors indicate the efforts to make the tendon repair successful. A repair is successful if the following factors can be justified as reported by one of the pioneers in shoulder surgery of our era:
1. Good tendon biology (smoking, diabetes or any other nutrition factors may affect healing)
2. Good tendon quality and quantity ( good elasticity and thickness of the tendon, and tension free repair)
3. Absence of glenohumeral arthritis (in the presence of arthritis the repaired rotator cuff will lead to increased contact pressures within the glenohumeral joint and make the pain worse!)
4. Reliable patient who will follow the rehab protocol and protect the repair for at least 3-6 months.
These x-rays above indicate that the blood flow to the footprint of the rotator cuff is compromised, due to the high number of anchors. In addition, the Grashey view indicates a slight superior migration of the humeral head which is a sign of rotator cuff failure. We elected not obtain a preoperative MRI as on exam the abduction and external rotation strength of the shoulder was 4/5 indicative of involvement of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus. The diagnosis of massive rotator cuff tear was clear.
There was no anterosuperior escape and active forward elevation was to 100 degrees without signs of pseudoparalysis. Although there is mild arthritis and the pain level was 9/10 on the VAS scale, it seems that prior to a reverse total shoulder replacement an attempt to improve motion and pain by removing the anchors shoulder be made. Any prominent anchors should be removed and by performing of what Frederick Matsen calls "the smooth and move" procedure there is good chance of establishing a smooth articulation of the humerus to the coracoacromial (CA) arch.
The smoothness of the CA arch is imperative in allowing painless elevation of the shoulder.
Indeed, in this case loose sutures and prominent anchors were seen and removed. The retracted rotator cuff tendon was debrided to stable margins as seen in the pictures below.
Loose sutures at the footprint of the rotator cuff
Humeral head arthritis does not permit rotator cuff repair as such operation increases contact forces in the GH joint and makes the pain worse!
Prominent anchors were removed
Loose or prominent sutures were removed as well.
VIDEO
VIDEO Massive irreparable rotator cuff tear with tendon of poor quality and quantity
The above operation resulted in decrease of the pain from 9/10 to 2/10 and improved the active forward elevation from 100 degrees to 170 degrees. After this surgery there is no need for dedicated rehab, for protection any tendon repair and no retained hardware that can complicate future reconstructive surgery.
Case 2:
The following case represents the same scenario as in Case 1, however the patient is in his 40s, had two previous failed rotator cuff repairs, there is no glenohumeral joint arthritis, there is slight high riding humeral head and there is some tendon left of good thickness that may permit a repair as indicated on the MRI. However, there is shortening of the tendon and a double or single row rotator cuff repair with anchors is not feasible as there will be significant tension in the repair. The two prior failed repairs highlight the need for a tension free repair.
As seen in the pictures below there is no arthritis on xray and the MRI arthrogram shows supraspinatus tendon tear with retraction of 4 cm from the footprint
The arrow indicates the retracted edge of the supraspinatus.
During arthroscopy there was a prominent bioabsorable anchor as seen below. This anchor along with loose suture was removed.
Loose sutures at the fooprint are seen above, viewing from posterior portal with a spinal needle in place
Prominent anchor is seen at the fooprint just anterior to the infraspinatus. Viewing from posterior portal.
A decision was made due to the size and the shape of the tear to proceed with margin convergence which decreased the size of the tear as shown in the drawing below. There was a tendon split at the infraspinatus supraspinatus margin which was incorporated into the margin convergence (video) :
This technique limits superior migration of the humerus during active forward elevation and provides "coverage" of the humeral head with healthy tendon. Biomechanically, when such a tendon to tendon repair heals - which is easier to heal compared to a tendon to bone repair - the forces responsible for humeral head rotation and depression applied by the rotator cuff are partially restored in a suspension bridge configuration as seen below:
Video 1: Size and configuration of the U type tear with an associated substance tear at the infraspinatus supraspinatus margin. The probe is inserted from the anterior portal and the arthroscope from the posterior portal - right shoulder. The area of the prominent anchor that was removed is indicated at the footprint. There is a hole in the rotator cuff footprint of the humerus.
Video 2: Viewing from posterior portal, cannula in the anterior portal, subacromial space, right shoulder. Traction sutures placed in the infraspinatus. Notice the elasticity of the tendon when traction is applied to it. This large size tear cannot be repaired to the footprint by repairing the edges of the tendons back to the fooprint in a "classic" double or single row configuration. In addition, notice the bone loss at the fooprint after the removal of the failed/prominent anchor from prior failed rotator cuff repair.
Video 3: Viewing posterior portal, cannula in the anterior portal, subacromial space, right shoulder. The margin convergence is completed with three non absorbable sutures and nearly 90% of the footprint of the rotator cuff is covered without the need of anchors, tendon transfer or patch.
