Early versus delayed repair of traumatic rotator cuff tears. Does timing matter on outcomes?

The purpose of this study was to determine if delay (before or after 4 months) in repairing a symptomatic traumatic rotator cuff tear affected clinical outcome, re-rupture rates and use of interpositional dermal grafts. This was a case matched (age + tear size) series of patients who underwent an early (≤ 4 months) or delayed (> 4 months) rotator cuff repair following a traumatic tear. If a direct repair could not be achieved a dermal interposition graft was used. Outcomes were collected at a median time of 30 months post-operatively using the Oxford, Constant and EQ5D scores. Twenty patients underwent rotator cuff repair within 4 months (1–4) of injury. Twenty age and cuff tear size—matched patients were identified who had undergone a delayed repair (4.1–24 months) after injury. We found no significant difference (p > 0.05) in patient reported outcomes scores between the early and delayed repair. [Oxford scores; Early 43(13–48), Delayed 45 (31–48); Constant scores; Early 73 (21–94), Delayed 73.5 (44–87); EQ5D; Early 0.75 (0.25–1), Delayed 0.77 (0.4–1)]. Time to full recovery was significantly longer (14 vs 33.8 months) for the delayed repair group (P > 0.05). When cuff tears were subdivided into