Rotator cuff tears in overhead athletes

The rotator cuff is under significant stress during overhead athletics, which can predictably lead to a certain spectrum of rotator cuff injuries in this population. Although the cause is often multifactorial; tensile overload, outlet impingement, and internal impingement are common causes of cuff pathologic conditions in this group. Identification of symptomatic rotator cuff disease can be challenging in the overhead athlete because abnormalities of the rotator cuff are common in asymptomatic throwers and rotator cuff pathologic conditions often occur in conjunction with other injuries. Although nonoperative options should be exhausted, surgical treatment is typically necessary for any rotator cuff tear for which conservative treatment fails. Tear thickness has been classically used to determine the surgical approach, with tears involving less than 50% of the tendon thickness treated with debridement and more substantial tears treated with formal repair. However, some authors and some noted surgeons with experience in managing this patient population have more recently advocated a higher threshold of tendon involvement before considering formal repair. Multiple repair options have been described, but few reports have focused specifically on the outcomes of rotator cuff surgery in overhead athletes. The limited available data do lead, however, to a few reasonable conclusions. Surgical results typically correlate with tear severity. Partial-thickness tears treated with arthroscopic debridement and management of concomitant pathologic conditions seem to have fairly good outcomes in the literature, with most athletes able to return to activity at their preinjury level. Full-thickness tears, however, have fared much more poorly in the overhead athlete, with largely dismal outcomes after surgical repair. What is abundantly clear is that further refinement of surgical options is necessary to improve patient outcomes after rotator cuff repair in this particularly challenging patient population and to allow more consistent return to sports. Identification of symptomatic rotator cuff disease can be challenging in the overhead athlete because abnormalities of the rotator cuff are common in asymptomatic throwers and rotator cuff pathologic conditions often occur in conjunction with other injuries. Although nonoperative options should be exhausted, surgical treatment is typically necessary for any rotator cuff tear for which conservative treatment fails. Tear thickness has been classically used to determine the surgical approach, with tears involving less than 50% of the tendon thickness treated with debridement and more substantial tears treated with formal repair. However, some authors and some noted surgeons with experience in managing this patient population have more recently advocated a higher threshold of tendon involvement before considering formal repair. Multiple repair options have been described, but few reports have focused specifically on the outcomes of rotator cuff surgery in overhead athletes. The limited available data do lead, however, to a few reasonable conclusions. Surgical results typically correlate with tear severity. Partial-thickness tears treated with arthroscopic debridement and management of concomitant pathologic conditions seem to have fairly good outcomes in the literature, with most athletes able to return to activity at their preinjury level. Full-thickness tears, however, have fared much more poorly in the overhead athlete, with largely dismal outcomes after surgical repair. What is abundantly clear is that further refinement of surgical options is necessary to improve patient outcomes after rotator cuff repair in this particularly challenging patient population and to allow more consistent return to sports.