Although much attention is paid to the details of the technique for rotator-cuff repair (RCR), it may be that the patient’s characteristics, rather than technical details, could play a greater role in the final outcome.
The authors of Payor type is associated with increased rates of reoperation and health care utilization after rotator cuff repair: a national database study studied the 90 day incidence of medical complications, emergency department visits, and hospital readmissions, as well as 1-year incidence of revision repair, revision to arthroplasty, and cost of care were evaluated using a large national database. Medicaid patients were matched using a propensity scoring algorithm in a ratio 1:10 to Medicare. Commercial patients were matched based on their age, gender, and other medical comorbidities, including obesity, diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease.
It is interesting to see how unhealthy patients overall were (see table below). 80% had hypertension, 60% had depressive symptoms, 50% were obese, 50% had chronic lung disease, 50% had diabetes, and 50% were asymptomatic.
