Treatment of Small Acute Cuff Tears, a Randomized Study
Treatment of Small Acute Cuff Tears, a Randomized Study
The purpose of this project is to compare operative repair of traumatically torn rotator cuff
 tendon with physiotherapy in a randomized prospective study.
In clinical practice most patients with a traumatic acute rotator cuff tear are treated with
 operative repair. The results of surgery are in most cases good but there are also good
 results in the literature from conservative treatment. So far there has been no prospective
 randomized comparison between the two treatments. When it comes to degenerative non-traumatic
 tears, level 1 and 2 studies have not been able to show the superiority of surgery.

 This study takes place in 2 clinics in Sweden (Linköping and Kalmar). Patients who have no
 previous shoulder conditions, a trauma to the shoulder and pain and/or inability to lift
 their arm will undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). If this indicates a full-thickness
 rotator cuff tear of the cranial part of the rotator cuff the patient will be randomized to
 surgery or physiotherapy. Surgical intervention is mini-open repair.

 Follow-up takes place at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months with patient scores taken by a
 blinded independent physiotherapist. At 12 months a new MRI is conducted as well.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Trauma to the shoulder

 -  Full thickness cranial rotator cuff tear

 -  Operation possible within 3 months

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  2 or more rotator cuff tendons involved

 -  Fracture

 -  Dislocation

 -  Previous shoulder condition (symptomatic osteoarthritis (Gleno-humeral (GH) joint,
 Acromial-Clavicular (AC) joint), frozen shoulder, instability, tumor)

 -  Malignancy

 -  Rheumatic disease

 -  Inability to understand swedish

 -  Substance abuse