Publications by authors named "Robert Balyk"

Background: Patients with complete rotator cuff tears who fail a course of nonoperative therapy can benefit from surgical repair.

Purpose: This randomized trial compared mini-open (MO) versus all-arthroscopic (AA) rotator cuff repair.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To compare the effect of early mobilization (EM) with standard rehabilitation (SR) over the initial 24 months following arthroscopic rotator cuff (RC) repair.

Methods: A total of 206 patients with full-thickness RC tears undergoing arthroscopic repair were randomized following preoperative assessment of shoulder range of motion (ROM), pain, strength, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) to either EM (n = 103; self-weaned from sling and performed pain-free active ROM during the first 6 weeks) or SR (n = 103; wore a sling for 6 weeks with no active ROM). Shoulder ROM, pain, and HRQOL were reassessed at 6 weeks and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively by a blinded assessor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although good short-term and midterm outcomes are reported for mini-open rotator cuff repair, few prospective studies have investigated long-term results.

Hypothesis: Function and health-related quality of life (HRQL) outcomes would be maintained 10 years after mini-open rotator cuff repair.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) measures must detect clinically important changes over time and between different patient subgroups. Forty-three patients (32 M, 13 F; mean age = 26.00 ± 8.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although cemented humeral fixation is recognized as the standard of care in total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), uncemented fixation has the potential to provide stable fixation, decrease operative time, and simplify potential revision procedures. This prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial compared cemented and uncemented humeral fixation in TSA for primary shoulder osteoarthritis.

Methods: Patients with primary shoulder osteoarthritis requiring replacement were screened for eligibility.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Rotator cuff tear, a common shoulder injury, can lead to shoulder pain and functional loss.

Hypothesis: Surgical repair of full-thickness rotator cuff tears using the mini-open surgical technique will improve shoulder function and health-related quality of life.

Study Design: Cohort study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Repetitive pointing movements to remembered proprioceptive targets were investigated to determine whether dynamic proprioception could be used to modify the initial sensorimotor conditions associated with an active definition of the target position. Twelve blindfolded subjects used proprioception to reproduce a self-selected target position as accurately as possible. Ten repetitions for each limb were completed using overhead and scapular plane pointing tasks.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The ability of subjects with multidirectional shoulder instability to use proprioception to complete a series of upper limb repositioning tasks was investigated. Twelve subjects with multidirectional instability and 12 control subjects were blindfolded and instructed to use proprioception to reproduce a self-selected target position as accurately as possible. Subjects completed 10 repetitions for each limb using three distinct upper limb movements: overhead reaching, scapular plane pointing, and humeral external rotation with abduction.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF