Arthroscopic debridement for management of massive, irreparable rotator cuff tears: a systematic review of outcomes

BACKGROUND: Surgical management of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears remains controversial. Arthroscopic debridement (AD) has shown promising results especially in the population older than 65 years; however, there is no consensus on the benefits of various AD procedures. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the functional midterm to long-term outcomes in patients treated with AD in combination with subacromial decompression, biceps tenotomy, tuberoplasty, or bursectomy, without repair of the rotator cuff tear. METHODS: A comprehensive search was performed in PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Cochrane databases for studies reporting clinical outcomes of AD of massive rotator cuff tears. Quality was determined using the Methodological Index for Nonrandomized Studies (MINORS) criteria by two independent reviewers. Pooled frequency-weighted means and standard deviations were calculated for patient-reported outcomes. RESULTS: Sixteen articles containing 643 patients and 662 shoulders met the eligibility criteria. The mean age at the time of surgery was 65.9 ± 4.4 years with a mean follow-up period of 46.5 ± 27.3 months. There was notable clinically significant improvement across all patient-reported outcome scores postoperatively: Constant 70.4 ± 8.9 (P value = .06), University of California, Los Angeles ultrasonography 26.7 ± 5.2 (P value = .001), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score 71.7 ± 2.1 (P value = .12), Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score 35.3, and visual analog score 1.7 ± 0.9. Forty-nine patients (7%) required reoperation, which most commonly was a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for the development of rotator cuff arthropathy. CONCLUSION: Arthroscopic debridement with a combination of subacromial decompression, tuberoplasty, subacromial bursectomy, and biceps tenotomy, for treatment of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears, produces good functional outcomes and improvement in pain at mid to long term follow up for the low-demand population greater than 65 years of age looking for pain relief over substantial increase in function.