Human growth hormone may be detrimental when used to accelerate recovery from acute tendon-bone interface injuries.

Background: There have been few scientific studies that have examined usage of human growth hormone to accelerate recovery from injury. The hypothesis of this study was that human growth hormone would accelerate tendon-to-bone healing compared with control animals treated with placebo in a rat model of acute rotator cuff injury repair.

Methods: Seventy-two rats underwent repair of acute rotator cuff injuries and were randomized into the following postoperative dosing regimens: placebo, and human growth hormone at 0.