The Effect of Acromial Morphology on the Functional Outcomes of Degenerative Rotator Cuff Tear Surgery.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate how the critical shoulder angle (CSA) and acromion index (AI) affect the outcome of arthroscopic rotator cuff tear (RCT) repair.

Methods: A total of 287 patients, who underwent arthroscopic surgery due to degenerative rotator cuff tear, were evaluated. The Constant Shoulder Score (CSS), Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively. The AI and CSA were measured on true anteroposterior shoulder radiographs. The patients were separated into two groups according to their CSA and AI values (control group ≤ 38°, increased CSA > 38°, and control group ≤ 0.7, increased AI > 0.7). The relationship between CSS, OSS and VAS was examined in all the groups.

Result: The evaluation was made of a total of 287 patients with a mean age of 60.29 ± 8.55 years. The mean duration of follow-up of the patients was 34.00 ± 18.97 months (range 12-80 months). There was a statistically significant difference between the preoperative and postoperative clinical scores of the patients (< 0.05). No relationship was determined between CSA, AI and CSS, OSS or VAS during follow-up (> 0.05). The interobserver ICC for CSA and AI were determined to be 0.962 and 0.967, respectively (95% CI) indicating a high correlation (< 0.001).

Conclusion: CSA and AI do not affect functional outcomes in the postoperative period, so they are not significant at the time of degenerative arthroscopic rotator cuff repair decisions.