Rotator cuff injuries and factors associated with reoperation.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of rotator cuff tears and describe the profile of reoperated patients, causes of repeated tendon tears, tear evolution and range of times between surgical procedures.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study involving 604 surgical procedures performed at two regional referral hospitals between January 2006 and December 2012. After approval by the ethics committee, data describing the patients' epidemiological profile were gathered at a single time, using Cofield's classification to measure the extent of the tears, all of which underwent arthroscopic surgery.