TEARING OF SHOULDER MUSCLES (Rotator Cuff Tears)

Arthroscopic Surgery

Although the shoulder joint has 360 degrees of mobility, it is not a very stable joint. Therefore, the injury rate is high. The shoulder joint owes its mobility to an advanced muscle group called rotator cuffs. The tears of these muscle groups usually occur in the continuation of the impingement syndrome.

It usually occurs after a trauma, fall, or trying to raise the arms against resistance. Another mechanism of cuff tear is the rupture of the rotator cuff muscle group as a result of the wear and tear of the shoulder over time.

Symptoms are:

• Pain in overhead activities

• Severe night pain

• In active use of the arm, pain between the shoulder and elbow

• Inability to lie on the affected shoulder

• Due to muscle weakness, the inability to lift the arm

• Limited mobility of the shoulder

Detailed examination and MRI of the patient is sufficient to make a diagnosis. If shoulder rotator cuff tears are not treated, it may result in the calcification of the shoulder joint and loss of mobility.

Shoulder rotator cuff tears do not heal on their own. In general, they are divided into two types, partial and complete tears.

In partial rotator cuff tears, treatment is started with cold press, rest and painkillers in the first stage. Then physical therapy-exercise and shoulder regenerative injection applications such as PRP (platelet-rich plasma) or stem cell injection can be performed. However, partial rotator cuff tears that do not benefit from all these treatments may be recommended for surgery.

If it is a complete rupture, surgical treatment is necessary. Even an advanced rotator cuff tear can be treated by experienced physicians with closed arthroscopic surgery without the need for open surgery. Although the surgeries take an average of 45 minutes and are performed with general anesthesia, certain risks can be reduced by using block anesthesia (only by numbing the shoulder and arm) in certain patients. This way, pain management after the surgery is also easier.

Post-operative:

• The patient is discharged on the same day or 1 day after the surgery.

• It is recommended to use an arm strap for a little while.

• Physical therapy is started within the first or third week depending on the severity of the torn muscles and the suture anchor used. On average, physical therapy can be performed for 1 to 3 months.

• Patients who have completed the physical therapy-rehabilitation program are given an in-house program and only called for check-ups.

• Usually it is possible to drive a car after the sixth week.

• The return to competitive sports takes three months with a professional physical therapy.

• Patients are allowed to travel by plane 2 days after surgery.

• Necessary physical therapy programs have been organized for our foreign patients and their travel is allowed 1 week after the surgery.

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