Rotator Cuff Rehab v. Surgery
- Posted on: Nov 28 2018
Rotator cuff rehab vs. surgery
The rotator cuff (RTC) is a complex network of muscles and tendons that helps support and provide stability to the shoulder joint, as well as provide full range of motion. There has been discussion amongst clinicians on whether non-operative treatment can heal and return patients to their previous quality-of-life, or if surgery would be necessary.
The primary reason people would surgically repair a torn RTC would be pain but it is very common for people to not only continue to feel pain, but to never fully regain their range of motion following surgery. Furthermore, research has shown that 6 out of 10 of surgeries actually fail and result in re-tears.
A new study confirms that many RTC tears can be healed non-operatively through physical therapy and rehabilitation. 75% of the people in this study that went the non-operative route were reported as successful outcomes with an average score of 83% on the quality-of-life score.
RTC surgeries would require an extensive rehabilitation process following the repair regardless. This study shows it is beneficial to forego the invasive repair and immediately begin to strengthen and regain ROM in the injured shoulder.
Although RTC surgery has shown some success in returning people to their prior level of quality of life, rehab at one of our 6 locations with our skilled providers will be quicker and yield virtually the same results.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1058274617306699
Posted in: Shoulder
