Increased operative time has a negative impact on clinical outcome in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Background Few data are available about the impact of operative time on outcome of rotator cuff repair. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of operative time on clinical outcome and tendon healing after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Methods Patients operated on for distal supraspinatus tear in our institution between 2012 and 2018 were included retrospectively. Operative time, from skin incision until skin closure, was extracted from medical files. For statistical analysis, operative time was treated as a quantitative variable. Endpoints were clinical outcome (Constant score, range of motion), tendon healing (on CT or MRI) and complications at 1 year. The significance threshold was set at p = 0.05. Results A total of 219 Patients, with a mean age of 54.6 years (range 40–70 years), were included. Mean operative time 44.9 min (range 14–140 min). Significant correlations ( p