| A small skin incision is
placed on the side of the
shoulder, 2-4cm depending on the
size of the arm and the size and
difficulty of the tendon repair.
|
 |
The “mini-open” repair
technique
•the rotator cuff is exposed by
spreading the fibres of the
deltoid muscle
•No division of muscles are
required
•This allows a quicker more
comfortable rehabilitation
|
 |
| The torn edges of the
rotator cuff have to be brought
down onto the bone of the
humerous |
 |
Rotator Cuff Tear
This can be repaired with
stitching the tendon directly to
bone
|
 |
Soft tissue anchors can also
be used to repair the tendon
|
 |
PANALOC RC is a fully
absorbable soft tissue anchor
designed specifically for
rotator cuff procedures
The PLA (polylactic acid) material anchor construction provides the
benefits of fixation strength
comparable to non-absorbable
systems, X-ray transparency, and
resorption with no permanent
foreign material presence.
PANALOK RC
|
|
Newer forms of anchors are
being designed to allow a purely
arthroscopic repair
More info at:
CuffTack
|
 |
| Whatever technique is used,
sometimes some tension needs to
be applied to the repair if it
is large or long standing. This
may compromise the ability to
achieve or maintain a sound
repair. A repair under tension
requires a more conservative
rehabilitation. |
|
| The prognosis is therefore
somewhat determined at
arthroscopy by determining not
only the side-to-side size of
the tear, but also the degree of
retraction of the tear (a sign
of chronicity of the tear) |
 |
At times, when the cuff tear
is to large or long-standing,
only part of the tendon can be
repaired.
This is still compatible with a
good post-op result and should
not necessarily mean the
operation is a failure. The
rehabilitation will however be
very conservative. |
 |
