Physical therapy in patients over 60 years of age with a massive and irreparable rotator cuff tear: a case series.
Héctor Gutiérrez-Espinoza, Víctor Arriagada-Núñez, Felipe Araya-Quintanilla and 4 others
PMID 30154614WHAT IT FOUND
Patients over 60 with massive, irreparable rotator cuff tears improved significantly after 12 weeks of physical therapy.
Shoulder function scores rose by 24.9 points and pain dropped by 3.6 points. However, without a control group, these gains cannot be attributed solely to the treatment.
Key findings
01Shoulder function improved by a mean of 24.9 points on the Constant-Murley scale after 12 weeks.
02Upper extremity disability decreased by a mean of 28.7 points on the DASH scale.
03Pain during activity decreased by a mean of 3.6 cm on the Visual Analog Scale.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study is a case series without a control group, so it is impossible to determine if the improvements were due to the treatment, natural recovery, or placebo effects. There was no randomization or blinding of participants or assessors. The follow-up period was only 12 weeks, so it is unknown if the benefits lasted longer. The study population had chronic tears with severe fatty infiltration, which may limit generalizability to acute tears or those with less degeneration.
Declared interests
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. They declare no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this specific physical therapy program causes these improvements. Because there was no control group, the reported gains in function and pain reduction could be due to the natural course of the condition or patient expectations rather than the treatment itself.