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Although nontraumatic rotator cuff tears often are repaired surgically, the clinical efficacy of surgery is unclear. In this trial from Finland, orthopedists enrolled 173 patients (age range, 55–81; mean age, 65) with symptomatic, atraumatic full-thickness supraspinatus tendon tears that were documented by magnetic resonance imaging. The researchers randomized 180 shoulders (7 patients had bilateral tears) to one of three groups: physiotherapy alone, acromioplasty plus postoperative physiotherapy, or tendon repair and acromioplasty plus postoperative physiotherapy. Physiotherapy in all groups consisted of a protocol-based home exercise program plus 10 outpatient physiotherapy sessions.
During the study, five physiotherapy-only patients cross…