Rotator cuff tears: A shoulder arthroscopy complication

Modern orthopedic procedures often make use of an arthroscope, a periscope-like instrument which is inserted into the joint. The arthroscope allows the physician a means of directly viewing internal structures of the joint, and of performing surgical procedures. Arthroscopy of the shoulder joint has been previously associated with several complications, including leakage of joint fluid, damage to the internal cartilage which lines the bones of the joint, bleeding into the joint space, and infections. To this list a newly reported condition is now added: rotator cuff tears, tears in the muscular and connective capsule which surrounds and rotates the shoulder joint. Four patients who experienced different tears of the rotator cuff subsequent to examination by arthroscope are evaluated. This report is particularly important because the number of arthroscopic cases has increased dramatically during the last decade. Although the true incidence of this complication is unknown, physicians should take note of the finding. It may well be that the incidence of tears of the rotator cuff are quite rare, and in ordinary individuals might well go unnoticed even if they were to occur. Three of the patients described in this study were active in sports and this may have caused them to be more vulnerable to this complication.