Introduction Critical evaluation of a patient’s clinical history, physical examination, and imaging findings is fundamental in establishing a diagnosis of rotator cuff pathology. All three components must work in tandem…
Introduction As described in Chapter 53 , rotator cuff tears can be successfully treated nonsurgically. However, atraumatic tears that fail nonoperative treatment and traumatic tears are commonly treated surgically. This…
The orthopedic surgeon is often the first to correctly identify a nerve problem related to the shoulder. Patients may have a chief complaint of shoulder pain that in fact is…
Introduction The goal of rotator cuff repair is to anatomically repair the rotator cuff with a biomechanically sound construct while respecting the biology of the tissues. Long-term follow-up demonstrates that…
Introduction While descriptions of rotator cuff tears have been noted at least as early as 1788, the first surgical repair of a rotator cuff tear is credited to Muller in…
Multiple factors interplay to determine whether a repaired rotator cuff will heal. These include patient age, size of the tear, chronicity of the tear, the biologic milieu, tissue quality, the…
ABOUT THE EXPERT Bassem T. Elhassan, MD, is a professor of orthopedic surgery and shoulder, elbow, and hand surgery at the Mayo Clinic. His upper extremity training started with a…
ABOUT THE EXPERT April Armstrong, BSc(PT), MD, MSc, FRCSC, is a professor of orthopedics, acting chair, and chief of the shoulder service at Penn State Health in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She…
Introduction The management of degenerative rotator cuff disease is controversial, and surgical indications vary widely. With increasing utilization of surgical management for rotator cuff disease, ensuring a complete understanding of…
The first documented protocol for using musculoskeletal (MSK) ultrasound to evaluate the shoulder was published in 1984 by Middleton et al. Since 1984, there have been ongoing advances in ultrasound…
