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Results of reconstruction of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears using a fascia lata allograft

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Indian Journal of Orthopaedics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 August 2015

This article has been updated

Abstract

Background: Despite the advances in surgical treatment options, massive rotator cuff (r-c) tears still represent a challenge for orthopedic surgeons. This study assesses the effectiveness of fascia lata allograft in reconstruction of massive and irreparable r-c tear and to evaluate the healing and functional outcomes.

Materials and Methods: 68 patients (38 men, 30 women, mean age 64.9 years) with massive or irreparable r-c tears were treated with placement of fascia lata allograft to fll the defect between February 2006 and February 2010. At 43 months followup they were evaluated clinically using the constant score, preoperatively and postoperatively. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound were used postoperatively, to assess the integrity of the allograft at the repair site. Postoperatively, standard rehabilitation protocol was followed with gradual restoration.

Results: Postoperative constant score increased from 32.5 preoperatively to 88.7 postoperatively. The most important was the pain relief from 2.4 preoperatively to 14.1 postoperatively and range of motion. The results of the MRI were not reliable, but the ultrasound was satisfactory. Finally, there was no infection or rejection of the graft in any of the patients.

Conclusions: Despite advances in surgical methods, there is still not a universally accepted treatment for massive and irreparable rotator cuff tears, because the standard methods have dubious results, with excessive retear rates and poor outcomes, necessitating the need for new repair strategies. We documented significant clinical improvement using fascia lata allograft in the repair of massive irreparable r-c tear, acting as scaffold to bridge the defect, enhancing the healing at the repair site.

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Change history

  • 01 August 2015

    In the article, “Results of reconstruction of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears using a fascia lata allograft”, which appeared in the pages 304–311, Issue 3, Vol 49 of Indian Journal of Orthopaedics[1], the author names are incorrectly written as “Varvitsiotis Dimitrios, Papaspiliopoulos Athanasios, Antipa Eleni, Papacharalampous Xenofon, Flevarakis George, Feroussis John” instead of “Dimitrios Varvitsiotis, Athanasios Papaspiliopoulos, Eleni Antipa, Xenofon Papacharalampous, George Flevarakis, John Feroussis”.

    Additionally, the author names in How to Cite section are written as “Dimitrios V, Athanasios P, Eleni A, Xenofon P, George F, John F.” instead of “Varvitsiotis D, Papaspiliopoulos A, Antipa, E, Papacharalampous X, Flevarakis G, Feroussis J”.

    These have now been corrected and reposted online.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, General Hospital ‘G. Gennimatas’, Athens, Greece

    Eleni Antipa

  2. Department of Radiology Areteion, University Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Xenofon Papacharalampous

  3. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Asclepieion Voulas, 16673, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Varvitsiotis, Athanasios Papaspiliopoulos, George Flevarakis & John Feroussis

Authors
  1. Dimitrios Varvitsiotis
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  2. Athanasios Papaspiliopoulos
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  3. Eleni Antipa
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  4. Xenofon Papacharalampous
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  5. George Flevarakis
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  6. John Feroussis
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Correspondence to Dimitrios Varvitsiotis.

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Varvitsiotis, D., Papaspiliopoulos, A., Antipa, E. et al. Results of reconstruction of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears using a fascia lata allograft. IJOO 49, 304–311 (2015). https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5413.156202

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5413.156202

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