OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical effects of arthroscopic repair and arthroscopic-assisted small incision repair for the treatment of rotator cuff injury.

METHODSThe clinical data of 86 patients with rotator cuff injury from January 2012 to January 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. All the patients were divided into two groups: arthroscopic assisted small incision repair group(group A) and arthroscopic repair group(group B). There were 46 patients in group A, including 25 males and 21 females, with an average age of (52.8±7.8) years old. And there were 40 patients in group B, including 23 males and 17 females, with an average age of (53.2±9.5) years old. Several indexes such as shoulder joint activity, muscle strength and ASES, UCLA and VAS scores were examined before and after operation to compare therapeutic effects between these two groups.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up, and the mean time was 20.8 months (ranged, 18 to 35 months). The results of patients in group A as follows: range of abduction motion of shoulder joint was (131.4±18.8)°, external rotation was (64.9±8.8)°, and internal rotation was(63.7±7.3)°. Results of patients in group B as follows: range of abduction motion of shoulder joint was(132.3±16.9), external rotation was(65.1±9.4)°, and internal rotation was(64.4±8.1)°. All the patients had better shoulder mobility than those before operation, but there were no significant differences between two groups after operation. Postoperative scores of patients in group A: ASES was 88.4±8.9, UCLA score was 29.6±3.6, VAS was 1.4±0.3; and in group B, the above scores were 89.5±9.6, 30.8±4.1 and 1.3±0.4 respectively. All the patients had better scores than those before operation, but there were no significant differences between two groups after operation.

CONCLUSIONSArthroscopic repair and arthroscopic-assisted small incision for repair of rotator cuff injury has clinical curative effects to some extent, and these two methods could improve the safety and reliability of surgical treatment.