Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery
Volume 16, Issue 2 , Pages 174-180 , March 2007

Acute rotator cuff tear: Do we miss the early diagnosis? A prospective study showing a high incidence of rotator cuff tears after shoulder trauma

Presented in poster form and awarded Best Poster Prize SECEC 2002 at the 16th Congress of the European Society for Surgery of the Shoulder and the Elbow; September 2002; Budapest, Hungary (PP 120).

  • Anne K.B. Sørensen, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Anne K. B. Sorensen, MD, Department of Orthopedics, University Hospital of Copenhagen in Herlev, Herlev Ringvej, 2730 Herlev, Denmark.
  • ,
  • Klaus Bak, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Amager, Denmark
  • ,
  • Annabel L. Krarup, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
  • ,
  • Charlotte H. Thune, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
  • ,
  • Marianne Nygaard, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
  • ,
  • Uffe Jørgensen, DMSc

      Affiliations

    • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
  • ,
  • Carsten Sloth, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark
  • ,
  • Søren Torp-Pedersen, MD

      Affiliations

    • The Parker Institute, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark.

References 

  1. Basset RW, Cofield RH. Acute tears of the rotator cuff. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1983;18–24
  2. Bennett WF. Arthroscopic repair of full-thickness supraspinatus tears (small-to-medium): a prospective study with 2- to 4-year follow-up. Arthroscopy. 2003;19:249–256
  3. Bokor DJ, Hawkins RJ, Huckell GH, Angelo RL, Schickendantz MS. Results of nonoperative management of full-thickness tears of the rotator cuff. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1993;103–110
  4. Braune C, Eisenhart-Rothe R, Welsch F, Teufel M, Jaeger A. Mid-term results and quantitative comparison of postoperative shoulder function in traumatic and non-traumatic rotator cuff tears. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2003;123:419–424
  5. Bryant L, Shnier R, Bryant C, Murrell GA. A comparison of clinical estimation, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, and arthroscopy in determining the size of rotator cuff tears. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2002;11:219–224
  6. Dinnes J, Loveman E, McIntyre LF, Waugh N. The effectiveness of diagnostic tests for the assessment of shoulder pain due to soft tissue disorders: a systematic review. Health Technol Assess. 2003;7:1–166iii
  7. Farin PU, Jaroma H. Acute traumatic tears of the rotator cuff: value of sonography. Radiology. 1995;197:269–273
  8. Feng S, Guo S, Nobuhara K, Hashimoto J, Mimori K. Prognostic indicators for outcome following rotator cuff tear repair. J Orthop Surg (Hong Kong). 2003;11:110–116
  9. Fukuda H. Partial-thickness rotator cuff tears: a modern view on Codman’s classic. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2000;9:163–168
  10. Galatz LM, Griggs S, Cameron BD, Iannotti JP. Prospective longitudinal analysis of postoperative shoulder function: a ten-year follow-up study of full-thickness rotator cuff tears. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2001;83:1052–1056
  11. Grana WA, Teague B, King M, Reeves RB. An analysis of rotator cuff repair. Am J Sports Med. 1994;22:585–588
  12. Harryman DT, Mack LA, Wang KY, Jackins SE, Richardson ML, Matsen FA. Repairs of the rotator cuff (Correlation of functional results with integrity of the cuff). J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1991;73:982–989
  13. Hertel R, Ballmer FP, Lambert SM, Gerber C. Lag signs in the diagnosis of rotator cuff rupture. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 1996;5:307–313
  14. Itoi E, Tabata S. Conservative treatment of rotator cuff tears. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1992;165–173
  15. Kim SH, Ha KI, Park JH, Kang JS, Oh SK, Oh I. Arthroscopic versus mini-open salvage repair of the rotator cuff tear: outcome analysis at 2 to 6 years’ follow-up. Arthroscopy. 2003;19:746–754
  16. Kluger R, Mayrhofer R, Kroner A, Pabinger C, Partan G, Hruby W, et al. Sonographic versus magnetic resonance arthrographic evaluation of full-thickness rotator cuff tears in millimeters. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2003;12:110–116
  17. Lam F, Mok D. Open repair of massive rotator cuff tears in patients aged sixty-five years or over: is it worthwhile?. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2004;13:517–521
  18. Middleton WD, Reinus WR, Totty WG, Melson CL, Murphy WA. Ultrasonographic evaluation of the rotator cuff and biceps tendon. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1986;68:440–450
  19. Milgrom C, Schaffler M, Gilbert S, van Holsbeeck M. Rotator-cuff changes in asymptomatic adults (The effect of age, hand dominance and gender). J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1995;77:296–298
  20. Park JY, Chung KT, Yoo MJ. A serial comparison of arthroscopic repairs for partial- and full-thickness rotator cuff tears. Arthroscopy. 2004;20:705–711
  21. Sher JS, Uribe JW, Posada A, Murphy BJ, Zlatkin MB. Abnormal findings on magnetic resonance images of asymptomatic shoulders. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1995;77:10–15
  22. Swen WA, Jacobs JW, Algra PR, Manoliu RA, Rijkmans J, Willems WJ, et al. Sonography and magnetic resonance imaging equivalent for the assessment of full-thickness rotator cuff tears. Arthritis Rheum. 1999;42:2231–2238
  23. Teefey SA, Hasan SA, Middleton WD, Patel M, Wright RW, Yamaguchi K. Ultrasonography of the rotator cuff (A comparison of ultrasonographic and arthroscopic findings in one hundred consecutive cases). J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2000;82:498–504
  24. Teefey SA, Middleton WD, Bauer GS, Hildebolt CF, Yamaguchi K. Sonographic differences in the appearance of acute and chronic full-thickness rotator cuff tears. J Ultrasound Med. 2000;19:377–378
  25. Tempelhof S, Rupp S, Seil R. Age-related prevalence of rotator cuff tears in asymptomatic shoulders. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 1999;8:296–299
  26. Watson EM, Sonnabend DH. Outcome of rotator cuff repair. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2002;11:201–211
  27. Wiener SN, Seitz WHJ. Sonography of the shoulder in patients with tears of the rotator cuff: accuracy and value for selecting surgical options. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1993;160:103–107
  28. Wolf EM, Pennington WT, Agrawal V. Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: 4- to 10-year results. Arthroscopy. 2004;20:5–12
  29. Yamaguchi K, Tetro AM, Blam O, Evanoff BA, Teefey SA, Middleton WD. Natural history of asymptomatic rotator cuff tears: a longitudinal analysis of asymptomatic tears detected sonographically. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2001;10:199–203
  30. Yamanaka K, Matsumoto T. The joint side tear of the rotator cuff (A followup study by arthrography). Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1994;68–73

 This work was funded by the Medical Research Foundation for Copenhagen, Faeroe Islands and Greenland.

PII: S1058-2746(06)00203-5

doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2006.06.010

Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery
Volume 16, Issue 2 , Pages 174-180 , March 2007