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. 2020 May 7;23(2):86-93.
doi: 10.5397/cise.2020.00031. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Clinical results of conservative management in patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tear: a meta-analysis

Masaki Karasuyama  1 , Masafumi Gotoh  2 , Keiji Tahara  3 , Junichi Kawakami  1   4 , Kazuya Madokoro  5 , Takashi Nagamatsu  4 , Takaki Imai  6 , Nobuya Harada  4 , Yu Kudo  4 , Naoto Shiba  7
Affiliations

Clinical results of conservative management in patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tear: a meta-analysis

Masaki Karasuyama et al. Clin Shoulder Elb. .

Abstract

Background: Several systematic reviews have reported on the conservative treatment of full-thickness rotator cuff tears; however, clinical results of this treatment still remain determined.

Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, PEDro, and CINAHL databases were systematically searched for randomized clinical trials and observational studies. Two independent researchers reviewed a total of 2,981 articles, 28 of which met the criteria for inclusion in the study. Clinical outcome measures included Constant score, visual analog scale score for pain, range of motion, and short-form 36 questionnaires. The meta-analysis used a linear mixed model weighted with the variance of the estimate.

Results: The meta-analysis showed a significant improvement after surgery. Pain score is 26.2 mm (1 month) to 26.4 mm (3 months), and 24.8 mm (12 months) (P<0.05); active abduction: 153.2º (2 months), 159.0º (6 months), 168.1º (12 months) (P<0.05); Constant score: 67.8 points (2 months) to 77.2 points (12 months) (P<0.05); short-form 36 questionnaires "vitality" section: 57.0 points (6 months) to 70.0 points (12 months) (P<0.05).

Conclusions: Our data confirmed the effectiveness of conservative treatment in patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears 12 months post-intervention. The results suggest that conservative treatment for patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears should be the first line of treatment before considering surgery.

Keywords: Conservative management; Rotator cuff injuries; Shoulder.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest None.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Flowchart of the articles included in the systematic review.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Plot showing the Constant score (A), pain (B), and active flexion/active abduction (C) for the conservative management group. Whiskers indicate 95% confidence interval. *P<0.05.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Graph showing the short-form 36 questionnaires (SF-36)score for the conservative management group. *P<0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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