Short-term outcomes of arthroscopic partial repair vs. latissimus dorsi tendon transfer in patients with massive and partially repairable rotator cuff tears.

Background: There is limited evidence on clinical outcomes of arthroscopic partial repair (APR) and latissimus dorsi tendon transfer (LDTT) for posterosuperior massive rotator cuff tears (mRCTs). We aimed to compare clinical outcomes of APR and LDTT for partially repairable posterosuperior mRCTs and to determine whether outcomes differ among tears that involve the teres minor.

Methods: We retrieved the records of 112 consecutive patients with mRCTs deemed partially repairable due to fatty infiltration (FI) stage ≥3 in one or more rotator cuff muscles.