Rotator Cuff Surgery – What You Can Expect

Surgery is often done on the shoulder to repair damage done by scar tissue or torn tendons. Rotator cuff surgery is performed to repair torn tendons in the shoulder.

The tendons and muscles in the shoulder are generally called the cuff. Their main purpose is to keep the arm in its joint, but they also help with rotation in the shoulder and the tendons connect the muscles to the bones. When the tendons are abused and injured or become damaged for any reason, sometimes the only option is rotator cuff surgery to make repairs…

Arthroscopy is the most common form of rotator cuff surgery. During this operation, a camera is inserted into very small incisions, allowing the surgeon to visibly assess the damage to the shoulder joint without making large incisions. These small incisions also allow the surgeon to do minor repairs such as removing bone spurs and damaged or scar tissue. They are a great benefit to the patient as the healing time for this type of surgery is minimal compared to conventional operations.

Muscle or tendon tears can be much more involved. Some surgeons will choose to try to repair them through the small incisions, but most will opt to make one larger incision. The surgeon will then use sutures to reattach the tendon to the bone, sometimes using anchors to ensure that the rotator cuff surgery is successful.

Signs of rotator cuff damage include weakness in the affected arm and/or pain when raising the arm over the head.

As with all surgeries, there is some risk involved with rotator cuff surgery. The most common complications are bleeding or infection at the incision site and nerve damage in the shoulder. Other, less common, risk factors include failure of the surgery to successfully repair the damage in the shoulder or relieve the symptoms, weakness in the shoulder or arm that was operated on, and stiffness of the shoulder.

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