Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Dec 1;31(4):90-96.
doi: 10.1097/JSA.0000000000000377. Epub 2023 Dec 18.

Single-row or Double-row Rotator Cuff Repair

Andres Felipe Cobaleda-Aristizabal  1 , Michell Ruiz-Suarez  1 , F Alan Barber  2 , Antonio Miguel Lara  1 , Mauricio Lopez Ramos  3 , Eduardo Torres Rangel  1 , Rafael Gamba Galeazzi  1
Affiliations

Single-row or Double-row Rotator Cuff Repair

Andres Felipe Cobaleda-Aristizabal et al. Sports Med Arthrosc Rev. .

Abstract

Rotator cuff tears are potentially a career-ending injury for athletes. The surgeon must identify which patients will benefit from surgical repair. The factors to consider are age, type of sport, time since injury, athlete's level, and the patient's expectations. An essential and independent fact determining the surgical treatment is whether the damage is due to overuse or from a traumatic/collision injury. Some sports are more demanding than others resulting in different return-to-participation (RTP) rates. This RTP return rate can present a real challenge and more so by a desire to reach the pre-injury level of play. The incidence of rotator cuff tearing varies from one sport to another. In football players this can be 12% whereas for tennis players this incidence is 4% to 17%. The RTP rate must be considered when making treatment decisions and is influenced by the level of the athlete: for professional athletes, the rate is 61%, and for recreational 73%. When the surgeon and the patient decide on the surgical treatment, the surgeon must consider whether to perform a double-row or a single-row rotator cuff tendon repair. The decision-making and the surgical technique will be addressed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest

References

    1. Kaplan LD, Flanigan DC, Norwig J, et al. Prevalence and variance of shoulder injuries in elite collegiate football players. Am J Sports Med. 2005;33:1142–1146.
    1. Alrabaa RG, Lobao MH, Levine WN. Rotator cuff injuries in tennis players. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2020;13:734–747.
    1. Altintas B, Anderson N, Dornan GJ, et al. Return to sport after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: is there a difference between the recreational and the competitive athlete? Am J Sports Med. 2020;48:252–261.
    1. Reinholz AK, Till SE, Arguello AM, et al. Advances in the treatment of rotator cuff tears. Clin Sports Med. 2023;42:69–79.
    1. Weiss LJ, Wang D, Hendel M, et al. Management of rotator cuff injuries in the elite athlete. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2018;11:102–112.

LinkOut - more resources