Assessment of Functional Outcomes of Arthroscopic Vs Mini Open Repair of Rotator Cuff Tears

Background: Rotator cuff tears are a common cause of shoulder pain and functional disability, frequently requiring surgical intervention when conservative treatment fails. Arthroscopic and mini-open rotator cuff repair are the two most widely performed surgical techniques; however, their comparative functional outcomes remain a subject of ongoing investigation.

Objective: To compare the functional outcomes of arthroscopic versus mini-open repair in patients with rotator cuff tears.

Materials and Methods: A prospective comparative observational study was conducted over a period of one year in the Department of Orthopaedics at Maratha Vidya Prasarak Samaj's Dr. Vasantrao Pawar Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre, Vasantdada Nagar, Adgaon, Nashik, Maharashtra, India. Forty patients with symptomatic rotator cuff tears were enrolled and allocated into two groups: arthroscopic repair (n = 20) and mini-open repair (n = 20). Functional outcomes, postoperative range of motion, perioperative parameters, and complications were compared between the two groups using appropriate statistical tests, with a p-value <0.05 considered statistically significant.

Results: Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were comparable between the two groups (p > 0.05). At the 12-month follow-up, both groups demonstrated significant improvement in functional outcomes; however, the arthroscopic repair group achieved significantly higher Constant-Murley scores (89.4 ± 4.5 vs. 84.2 ± 5.1; p = 0.002), ASES scores (91.6 ± 4.2 vs. 86.5 ± 5.8; p = 0.004), and UCLA scores (33.8 ± 1.9 vs. 31.6 ± 2.2; p = 0.003) compared with the mini-open group.

Conclusion: Both arthroscopic and mini-open rotator cuff repair provided significant improvements in shoulder function and pain relief. These findings support arthroscopic repair as the preferred surgical technique for appropriately selected patients with reparable rotator cuff tears