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- Björnsson Hallgren, Hanna Cecilia, 1976-
(författare)
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Treatment of subacromial pain and rotator cuff tears
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Shoulder pain is very common, affecting 14-21 % of the population at some time during their lifetime. The aims of this thesis were to improve the understanding of various aspects concerning the pathogenesis and treatment of subacromial pain and rotator cuff tears. Patients and healthy individuals were examined and compared in five studies:Study I) Seventy patients were retrospectively examined, clinically and with ultrasound, 15 years after arthroscopic subacromial decompression. All patients had an intact rotator cuff at surgery. Ultrasound showed significantly fewer rotator cuff tears compared to the prevalence of asymptomatic tears reported in the literature for the same age group. This indicates that arthroscopic subacromial decompression might protect the rotator cuff.Study II) Forty-two patients were retrospectively examined, clinically and with ultrasound, 39 months (mean) after an acute rotator cuff repair. All patients had pseudoparalysis after trauma, a full thickness tear and no previous history of shoulder symptoms. A delay in surgical treatment of three months and the number of tendons injured did not affect the outcome. Age affected outcome negatively.Study III) Plasma samples from 17 patients with cuff tears and 16 plasma samples from healthy age- and gender-matched controls were collected and analysed regarding the levels of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors, TIMP1-4. Elevated levels of TIMP-1 were found in the patients with cuff tears compared to controls. Higher levels of TIMP-1, TIMP-3 and MMP-9 were found in patients with full-thickness tears compared to patients with partial-thickness tears.Study IV) Ninety-seven patients with longstanding subacromial pain, on the waiting-list for arthroscopic subacromial decompression, were prospectively randomised to specific shoulder exercises or control exercises for three months. Thereafter they were clinically examined and asked if they still wanted surgery. The specific shoulder exercises focusing on eccentric exercise for the rotator cuff and scapula stabilisers were found to be effective in reducing subacromial pain and improving shoulder function, thereby reducing the need for surgery.Study V) All patients including those operated, in Study IV were re-examined after one year using clinical assessment scores. The option of surgery was continuously available up to the one-year follow-up. Ultrasound and radiological examinations performed at inclusion were analysed in relation to the choice of surgery. The positive effects of the specific exercise programme were maintained after one year and significantly fewer patients in this group chose surgery. Surgery was significantly more often chosen by patients who had a low baseline shoulder score, and/or a full thickness rotator cuff tear. All patients showed significant improvement in the clinical scores one year after inclusion or one year after surgery.These results support the concept that subacromial pain has a multifactorial aetiology and that the first line of treatment should be specific shoulder exercises. When conservative treatment fails, an acceptable result can be achieved with arthroscopic subacromial decompression. The rotator cuff status is important to consider when treating and studying these patients.
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| 2. |
- Ranebo, Mats, 1970-
(författare)
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Rotator Cuff Tears : Short- and long-term aspects on treatment outcome
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Rotator cuff tear is a common disorder and there is a lack of knowledge of appropriate treatment and consequences of different treatment modalities. The overall aim of this thesis was to examine short- and long-term results of rotator cuff tear treatment.In Paper I we did a retrospective 21 to 25-year follow-up of a consecutive series of patients with partial and full-thickness rotator cuff tears, treated with acromioplasty without cuff repair. The cuff status had been documented in a specific perioperative protocol in all patients at the index operation. We did x-ray, ultrasonography and clinical scores with Constant score and Western Ontario Rotator Cuff index (WORC) at follow-up. We identified 111 patients with either a partial or a full-thickness tear, but at follow-up 21 were deceased and 11 were too ill from medical conditions unrelated to their shoulder. Out of the remaining 78 eligible patients, 69 were examined (follow-up rate 88 %) and they had a mean age at the index operation of 49 years (range 19-69 years). Forty-five had a partial tear and 24 a full-thickness tear at the index operation. At follow-up, 74% of patients with full-thickness tear had cuff tear arthropathy grade 2 or more according to the arthropathy classification of Hamada (grade 1 to 5) and 87% had developed tear progression (i.e. a larger tear). Corresponding numbers in those with a partial tear was 7 % arthropathy and 42 % tear progression, and the differences between the full-thickness group and the partial tear group was significant for both outcome measures (P<0.001 for both analyses). In those with arthropathy, the mean Constant score was 47 (standard deviation [SD], 23), the mean age and gender-adjusted Constant score 62 (SD, 27) and the mean WORC 58 % (SD, 26). Patients with a partial tear at follow-up had mean Constant score and WORC within the normal range. In multivariable analysis with logistic regression, having a full-thickness tear at the index operation was a risk factor for arthropathy (odds ratio [OR] 37.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 8.2-175.0) and for tear progression (OR 6.09; 95% CI, 1.41-26.29).In Paper II we examined the contralateral shoulder in the same patients as in paper I and with the same methodology. Sixty-one patients were examined and 38 had had a partial tear at the index operation 21-25 years ago and 23 a full-thickness tear. The overall rate of contralateral full-thickness tears was 50.8 %, which is higher than the 16-35 % rate found in previous studies of newly diagnosed cuff patients. The rate of contralateral full-thickness tear ranged from 13.6 % in patients with a partial tear in the index shoulder at follow-up, to 90 % in patients with a full-thickness tear and arthropathy in the index shoulder. There was a significant correlation regarding conditions between shoulders in the same patient, with a Spearman coefficient of 0.72 for the number of ten-dons with a full-thickness tear, 0.31 for Hamada grade of arthropathy and 0.65 for Constant score. The number of tendons with a full-thickness tear in the index shoulder at follow-up was a risk factor for a contralateral full-thickness tear (OR 3.28; 95% CI, 1.67-6.44) in a multi-variable logistic regression model. We also found that cuff tear arthropathy was significantly more common in patients who had undergone an acromioplasty (P<0.001), a finding which is not confirmatory but may generate a hypothesis.Paper III addressed 17 to 20-year results after operation with a synthetic interposition graft for irreparable cuff tears. We used X-ray, ultrasonography and clinical scores at follow-up. We identified a consecutive series of 13 patients, one of whom was deceased at follow-up. Ten of the remaining 12 participated in a complete follow-up and 2 did only x-ray examination. Nine out of 12 (75 %; 95% CI, 43-95 %) had cuff tear arthropathy Hamada grade 2 or more in the index shoulder at follow-up. The mean Constant score was 46 (SD, 26) and the mean WORC 59 % (SD, 20). Seven out of 12 had contralateral cuff tear arthropathy, and the difference in frequency of arthropathy between shoulders was not statistically significant (P=0.667).In Paper IV we tested whether early repair of small cuff tears, involving mainly supraspinatus, would give a superior clinical result com-pared to physiotherapy without repair in a prospective randomised trial with 12 months follow-up. We used Constant score as the primary out-come, and WORC, EQ-VAS and Numerical Rating Scale for pain (NRS) as secondary outcomes. We also aimed at assessing the rate of tear progression in unrepaired shoulders and the healing rate in repaired shoulders by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) performed at 12 months. With a high grade of follow-up (100 % for 12 months Constant score and 95 % for 12 months MRI), the repair group had a 12 months median Constant score of 83 (Quartile range [QR], 25) and the conservative group 78 (QR, 22). This between-group difference in medians of 4.5 (95% CI,-5 to 9; P=0.68) was not statistically significant and we did not detect any significant differences in the secondary outcomes at 12 months. The retear rate was 6.5 % in repaired patients and 29 % of unrepaired patients had a tear enlargement >5 mm.The results in this thesis indicate that patients with small, traumatic, full-thickness tears of mainly supraspinatus have no clinical benefit of early surgical repair compared to physiotherapy alone, but in the long-term, patients with full-thickness tears have an increased risk of tear progression, cuff tear arthropathy and low clinical scores. These results are especially important in the treatment decision of repair or not in younger patients. Having a full-thickness tear is also a risk factor for having a contralateral cuff tear, a phenomenon that underlines the importance of endogenous factors in the development of rotator cuff tears. If a cuff tear is not repairable to bone, the addition of a synthetic inter-position graft does not seem to prevent cuff tear arthropathy.
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| 4. |
- Tillander, Bo, 1960-
(författare)
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The Supraspinatus Tendon : Clinical and histopathological aspects
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The supraspinatus tendon is an important structure of the rotator cuff. Subacromial impingement is a common reason for shoulder pain. Despite extensive scientific work in this field, the cause of impingement syndrome is still not fully understood. The general aim of the present thesis was to generate new knowledge with respect to pathogenesis and treatment of impingement syndrome. A combination of animal and clinical studies were performed. Different methods were used such as histology, immunohistochemistry, development and assessment of a novel measuring device and clinical and radiological assessment.Thirty rats were injected with triamcinolone or saline into the subacromial bursa. After five corticosteroid injections, we found focal inflammation, degradation and fragmentation of collagen bundles in the supraspinatus tendon, whereas the control specimens were normal (p=0.035).Subacromial bursitis was induced by injections of carrageenan into the subacromial space (n=28). Fibrocartilaginous metaplasia and bony metaplasia were found in the supraspinatus tendon. Even in specimens with no histologic changes of the collagen bundles the staining for fibronectin was significantly increased.The distance between the anterolateral acromion and the supraspinatus tendon was measured in patients with impingement syndrome intraoperatively (n=30) and in controls (instability, n=15). The mean value of the subacromial distance in controls was 16 mm, the 95% mean confidence limits between 14 and 18 mm. The mean value in the group of patients with impingement syndrome was 8 mm before and 16 mm after the decompression.Fifty patients were reviewed after arthroscopic subacromial decompression. Twenty-five showed calcific deposits in the rotator cuff on radiographs preoperatively. In 13 patients the calcific deposits totally disappeared postoperatively. In another six patients the calcifications had decreased in size. Four patients still showed calcifications, which were 5 mm or greater in size. The postoperative results measured by the Constant score were almost identical in the calcific and the non-calcific groups. Tillander 010916 8 Human surgical supraspinatus tendon specimens were studied from patients with impingement (n=16), ruptured supraspinatus tendons (n=7) and controls (n=10). Degradation of tendinous tissue and fibrin were found only in some specimens from ruptures. The difference in fibronectin staining was significant between controls and patients with a rupture (p=0.002). Fibrosis and thinning of fascicles seemed to be a more non-specific finding, appearing in control, impingement and rupture specimens.In conclusion, subacromial corticosteroid injections may cause rupture of the supraspinatus tendon. Metaplasia of the supraspinatus tendon may play a role in the pathogenesis of impingement and rupture of the supraspinatus tendon. The subacromial distance can be measured intraoperatively and was shown to be lower in patients with impingement than in patients with instability. Calcifications disappear or decrease in size after arthroscopic subacromial decompression and do not seem to influence the postoperative outcome in patients with impingement. Degradation of tendon tissue, fibrin and fibronectin appear to be signs of tendon degeneration, whereas fibrosis and thinning of fascicles were found also in controls.
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