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Every year approximately 18 million Americans report shoulder pain, a large percentage of which are a result of rotator cuff disease. Rotator cuff tear progression can be difficult to predict. Factors associated with tear enlargement include increasing symptoms, advanced age, involvement of 2 or more tendons, and rotator cable lesion. Nonsurgical treatment can be effective for patients with full-thickness tears. When conservative treatment fails, surgical repair provides a reliable treatment alternative. Recurrent tears after surgery can compromise outcomes, particularly for younger patients with physically demanding occupations. Revision surgery provides satisfactory results for those with symptomatic re-tears. If the tear is deemed irreparable, addressing concomitant biceps pathology or performing partial repairs can reliably improve pain and potentially reverse pseudoparalysis. The reverse shoulder arthroplasty has limited indications in the setting of rotator cuff tears and should be reserved for patients with painful pseudoparalysis and associated arthropathy., (Copyright © 2015 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The goal of this article is to summarize the current concepts on rotator cuff disease with an emphasis on arthroscopic treatment. Most rotator cuff tears are the result of an ongoing attritional process. Once present, a tear is likely to gradually increase in size. Partial-thickness and subscapularis tears can both be successfully treated arthroscopically if conservative management fails. Partial tears involving greater than 50% of tendon thickness should be repaired. Articular-sided partial tears involving less than 50% of the rotator cuff can reliably be treated with debridement. A more aggressive approach should be considered for low-grade tears (<50%) if they occur on the bursal side. Biomechanical and anatomic studies have shown clear superiority with dual-row fixation compared with single-row techniques. However, current studies have yet to show clear clinical advantage with dual-row over single-row repairs. Biceps tenotomy or tenodesis can reliably provide symptomatic improvement in patients with irreparable massive tears. True pseudoparalysis of the shoulder is a contraindication to this procedure alone and other alternatives should be considered., (Copyright © 2011 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)