Repair of the rotator cuff. A comparison of results in two populations of patients.

One hundred and seven shoulders of 103 consecutive patients were evaluated after primary repair of the rotator cuff. Twenty-four patients were receiving Workers' Compensation, and the other seventy-nine were not. Preoperative and postoperative evaluation of both groups included subjective assessment of pain, function, and patient satisfaction as well as objective assessment of the strength and active range of motion of the shoulder. The shoulder-rating scale of the University of California at Los Angeles was used to determine over-all success rates. The duration of follow-up ranged from twenty-four to sixty-eight months (mean, forty-five months). The two groups were comparable with regard to the age and sex of the patients, the size of the tear of the rotator cuff, and the preoperative strength, pain, and active range of motion of the shoulder. Over-all, a successful result was achieved in eighty-nine of the 107 shoulders. Of the twenty-four shoulders of patients who were receiving Workers' Compensation, thirteen (54 per cent) were rated good or excellent, compared with seventy-six (92 per cent) of the eighty-three shoulders of patients who were not receiving Workers' Compensation. Ten (42 per cent) of the twenty-four patients who were receiving Workers' Compensation returned to full activity, compared with seventy-four (94 per cent) of the seventy-nine patients who were not.