Massive rotator cuff tears with short tendon length can be successfully repaired using synthetic patch augmentation.

Background: Choosing the optimal treatment for massive rotator cuff tears (MRCTs) still poses a surgical problem. In MRCTs with good muscle quality, but short tendon length, nonaugmented repairs lead to high failure rates of up to 90%. The aim of the study was to evaluate midterm clinical and radiologic outcomes of massive rotator cuff tears with good muscle quality, but short tendon length, which were repaired with synthetic patch augmentation.