On today’s episode we’re focusing on rotator cuff tears with Dr. Anand Murthi, Chief of Shoulder and Elbow surgery at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Georgetown University.

We have some great articles for you today that contribute well to our conversation on the surgical treatment of rotator cuff injury.  The first article is retrospective cohort study published this past month in the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery titled “Early Repair of Traumatic Rotator Cuff Tears Improves Functional Outcomes”. Matt Ramsey and his team at Rothman reported that patients who underwent surgical repair of traumatic cuff tears within 3 weeks of injury had the best functional outcomes, as measured by ASES, SANE and VAS scores, compared to those who underwent surgery later. Furthermore, delaying surgical repair beyond 4 months was associated with a significant decline in function across all scores. The authors concluded that early MRI diagnosis and prompt orthopedic referral is imperative when a traumatic cuff injury is suspected, to avoid a delay in surgical treatment that may negatively affect clinical outcomes.

Then, from the October issue of AJSM this year, we review the publication titled “A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Single-Row With Double-Row Fixation in Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair”. Lapner and colleagues in Winnipeg and Ottawa Canada concluded that double-row fixation was associated with statistically superior WORC scores compared to single-row fixation at 10-years post-op, but that this is unlikely to be clinically significant. More importantly, double-row repair led to preserved function out to 10 years while single-row repair exhibited significant functional declines during this time period as measured by changes in the WORC and ASES scores.

We are joined today by Dr. Anand Murthi, Chief of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and Director of the Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital. Dr. Murthi received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and completed his orthopedic residency at George Washington University. He then completed a fellowship in shoulder and elbow reconstruction at Columbia Presbyterian. 

Dr. Murthi is the former president and founding member of the Association of Clinical Elbow and Shoulder Surgeons. He is also an elected member of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Society and was recently elected to the Neer Circle of ASES. Dr. Murthi is passionate about research and has published and presented numerous research papers on a national and international stage. He is the current section editor for the journal “Current Orthopaedic Practice” and also sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Arthroplasty.