Review Article

Partial Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears: Current Concepts

Table 3

Clinical and Anatomic Outcomes of Arthroscopic Repair of Partial Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears (PTRCTs).

Study Number of patients Type of repairClinical OutcomeClinical Outcome Anatomic Outcome
Preoperative → 
Postoperative
follow-up score
(measure)
Percentage of patients satisfiedPercentage of repairs intact (imaging method)

Porat et al. (2008) [9]36Conversion17.24 → 31.47 (UCLA)

Deutsch (2007) [10]41Conversion42 → 93 (ASES)98%

Kamath et al. (2009) [11]42Conversion46.1 → 82.1 (ASES)93%88% intact (ultrasound)

Iyengar et al. (2011) [12]22Conversion19.1 → 32.9 (UCLA)82% intact (MRI)

Kim et al. (2013) [13]54Bursal surface
Conversion
6.7 → 1.4 (VAS)
14.7 → 30.9 (UCLA)
36.1 → 90.7 (ASES)
4.7 → 10.0 (SST)
89% intact (MRI)
29Articular surface
Conversion
5.8 → 0.9 (VAS)
15.7 → 30.5 (UCLA)
42.4 → 90.4 (ASES)
5.1 → 9.7 (SST)
92% intact (MRI)

Kim et al. (2014) [14] 21Bursal surface
Conversion
5.38 → 1.19 (VAS)
19.81 → 32.52 (UCLA)
47.78 → 90.80 (ASES)
57.38 → 83.00 (Constant)
90.5% intact (MRI)
20Articular surface
Conversion
4.95 → 1.05 (VAS)
19.80 → 32.70 (UCLA)
48.69 → 91.80 (ASES)
51.00 → 75.85 (Constant)
100% intact (MRI)

Shin (2012) [15] 24Conversion5.3 → 1.1 (VAS)
49.2 → 86.2 (ASES)
59.0 → 87.1 (Constant)
92% 92% intact (MRI)
24Transtendon5.5 → 1.4 (VAS)
50.8 → 89.1 (ASES)
54.8 → 84.8 (Constant)
 92%100% intact (MRI)

Castagna et al. (2015) [16] 37Conversion3.6 (ΔVAS)
29 (Δ Constant)
37Transtendon3.4 (ΔVAS)
25.1 (Δ Constant)

Franceschi et al. (2013) [17] 28Conversion47 → 90 (ASES)
46 → 91 (Constant)
96% intact (MRI)
32Transtendon46 → 91 (ASES)
48 → 92 (Constant)
97% intact (MRI)

Ide et al. (2005) [18]17Transtendon17.3 → 32.9 (UCLA)

Waibl and Buess (2005) [19]22Transtendon17.1 → 31.2 (UCLA)91%

Castagna et al. (2009) [20]54Transtendon14.1 → 32.9 (UCLA)
9.8 → 0.8 (SST)
45.3 → 90.6 (Constant)
98%

Castricini et al. (2009) [21]31Transtendon44.4 → 91.6 (Constant)93%100% intact (MRI)

Seo et al. (2011) [22]24Transtendon Double-row6.6 → 0.6 (VAS)
38 → 89 (ASES)
92%

Tauber et al. (2008) [23]16Transosseous15.8 → 32.8 (UCLA)94%

Spencer et al. (2010) [24]20Intra-articular74 → 92 (PSS)

VAS = Visual Analog Scale.
UCLA = University of California at Los Angeles.
ASES = American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons.
SST = Simple Shoulder Test.
PSS = Penn Shoulder Score.