OBJECTIVE: To perform a function evaluation of patients with complete rotator cuff tears that were submitted to arthroscopic repair associated to acromioplasty. METHODS: This is a retrospective study made with patients submitted to arthroscopic surgical treatment to repair rotator cuff tears. Patients included were operated on from June 2000 to October 2004 at the Mater Dei and Felício Rocho Hospitals, in Belo Horizonte. Of the 102 patients submitted to reconstruction, 11 were removed from the study because they did not meet the inclusion criteria, and so the final number of the series was 91 shoulders of 91 patients. The functional evaluation scale was the UCLA scale and the simple test was performed. RESULTS: In the post-operative evaluation of 35 patients, results were considered excellent (38.4%), 47 were considered good (51.6%), six, regular, (6.6%), and three poor results (3.3%). 82 (90.1%) patients therefore were evaluated as good or excellent results, and nine as regular or poor results, which were the unsatisfactory group in the series. CONCLUSION: The arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff, associated to acromioplasty, presented an excellent or good outcome for most patients when evaluated according to the UCLA functional method.
Rotator cuff; Rotator cuff; Arthroscopy; Reconstructive surgical procedures; Evaluation studies; Retrospective studies
