Trends in rotator cuff surgery: Research through the decades

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study is to analyse the most cited articles in rotator cuff surgery and identify trends in topics by decade to see which areas may still need further investigation.

Methods: Journal Citation Index was searched to find articles using the search terms pertaining to "rotator cuff repair". All articles were ranked according to most cited, and then further analysed to find most cited articles in each decade. Articles were grouped into topics to find themes for each decade.

Results: All the most cited articles were published in 6 orthopaedic journals. Only 4 of the top 30 citations provided level I evidence. Each decade's most cited articles seemed to fit into a broad topic, with platelet-rich plasma and biologic augmentation being prominent in the last decade.

Conclusion: There are still many unanswered questions in rotator cuff surgery, but this may be because success of certain treatment options are highly dependent on patient selection. Despite growing numbers of articles being published on rotator cuff repairs, the level of evidence remains low. Larger, collaborative projects may help in answering the common dilemmas that still face shoulder surgeons.

Keywords: Arthroscopic surgery; Most cited; Rotator cuff repair; Rotator cuff surgery; Shoulder trends.

Fig. 1

Flowchart to show search methodology of searching using both Google Scholar and Web of Knowledge^SM.

Fig. 2

Top 30 Most Cited Article By TOpic.

Fig. 3

Number of articles per decade published for a title search for the phrase "rotator cuff".

Fig. 4

A graphic representation of rotator cuff topics published in the 1970s.

Fig. 5

A chart showing the trends of rotator cuff topics published through the decades.

Fig. 6

A representation of the most popular topics published in each decade.