Mobilization and Repair Techniques for the Massive Contracted Rotator Cuff Tear: Technique and Preliminary Results

Rotator cuff tears are a common cause of pain and disabil-ity.1,2 Arthroscopy and arthroscopic surgical techniques have greatly enhanced our understanding of rotator cuff tears and their treatment.3 Traditionally, many mas-sive rotator cuff tears (.5 cm in greatest dimension as defined by DeOrio and Cofield4) were regarded as irrep-arable. These cuff tears make up approximately 20 % of all cuff tears5 and a considerably greater percentage (;80%) of recurrent rotator cuff tears.6 For these massive tears, the recommendation often included simple debride-ment.7 While debridement of massive tears has been relatively successful in terms of pain relief, overhead function is often not an attainable goal, particularly in patients that do not have balanced force couples.8–11 Arthroscopic shoulder surgery has not only improve