Comparing surgical repair with conservative treatment for XXXX cuff tears: a  randomized controlled trial.

@entity1 @entity717 @entity227 @entity158
BACKGROUND: Good clinical results have been reported for both surgical and conservative treatment of rotator cuff tears. The primary aim of this randomized controlled trial was to compare functional and radiologic improvement after surgical and conservative treatment of @entity717 cuff tears. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled trial that included 56 @entity1 with a degenerative full-thickness rotator cuff tear between January 2009 and December 2012; 31 @entity1 were treated conservatively, and rotator cuff repair was performed in 25 @entity1 . Outcome measures, including the Constant-Murley score (CMS), visual analog scale (VAS) @entity158 and @entity227 scores, were assessed preoperatively and after 6  weeks and 3, 6, and 12  months. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed preoperatively and at 12  months postoperatively. RESULTS: At 12  months postoperatively, the mean CMS was 81.9 (standard deviation [SD], 15.6) in the surgery group vs 73.7 (SD, 18.4) in the conservative group (P  =  .08). VAS @entity158 (P  =  .04) and @entity227 (P  =  .02) were significantly lower in the surgery group at the 12-month follow-up. A subgroup analysis showed postoperative CMS results were significantly better in surgically treated @entity1 without a retear compared with conservatively treated @entity1 (88.5 [SD, 6.2] vs 73.7 [SD, 18.4]). CONCLUSION: In our population of @entity1 with @entity717 cuff tears who were randomly treated by surgery or conservative protocol, we did not observe differences in functional outcome as measured with the CMS 1 year after treatment. However, significant differences in @entity158 and disabilities were observed in favor of surgical treatment. The best outcomes in function and @entity158 were seen in @entity1 with an intact rotator cuff postoperatively.
