Loading...
In 2004, researchers in Norway began a study in which 103 patients (mean age, 60) with symptomatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears not exceeding 3 cm were randomized to either surgical repair or physical therapy. In 2010 and 2015, 1-year and 5-year results were published: Several outcomes favored surgery statistically, but differences were considered to be “possibly clinically irrelevant” by the authors. Now, they report 10-year follow-up results, during which 14 of the 51 physical therapy patients had crossed over to surgery.
In intention-to-treat analyses, mean scores for most clinical outcomes (covering pain and function) remained significantly better in the surgery group than in the physical therapy group, with larger between-group dif…