Trial reportAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2021
Non-surgical and surgical treatments for rotator cuff disease: a pragmatic randomised clinical trial with 2-year follow-up after initial rehabilitation.
Trial report in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness of Operative Versus Non-operative Management of Subacromial Impingement
The Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Operative and Non-operative Management of Rotator Cuff Tear
Autonomic Recalibration Approach to Myofascial Pain Elimination
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Surgical vs. non-surgical therapy for partial tears of the rotator cuff: a systematic review and meta-analysis of pooled studies with indirect comparison.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Guideline
- Arthroscopic subacromial decompression versus placebo surgery for subacromial pain syndrome: 10 year follow-up of the FIMPACT randomised, placebo surgery controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Trial
- Short-Term Effects of Cold Therapy and Kinesio Taping on Pain Relief and Upper Extremity Functionality in Individuals with Rotator Cuff Tendonitis: A Randomized Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Trial
- A Pilot Study for Effectiveness and Safety of Adjunctive Pharmacopuncture to Acupuncture Treatment for Rotator Cuff Diseases: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2024Trial
- Effectiveness of Adding a Large Dose of Shoulder Strengthening to Current Nonoperative Care for Subacromial Impingement: A Pragmatic, Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial (SExSI Trial).The American journal of sports medicine · 2021Trial
- Clinically Important Improvements Observed in Patient-Reported Outcomes 2 Years After Exercise Therapy for Patients With Isolated Supraspinatus Tendon Tears.Clinical journal of sport medicine : official journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine · 2026Observational
- Conservative management of degenerative rotator cuff tears: A systematic review of long-term clinical outcomes and cost effectiveness.Journal of orthopaedics · 2026Review
- [Interpretation of the 2025 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) on Management of Rotator Cuff Injuries Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline].Zhongguo xiu fu chong jian wai ke za zhi = Zhongguo xiufu chongjian waike zazhi = Chinese journal of reparative and reconstructive surgery · 2026Article
- Hierarchy Reproduction: Multiphasic Strategies for Tendon/Ligament-Bone Junction Repair.Biomaterials research · 2025Review
- Article
- Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation for the Upper Extremity and Scapula: Review and Update on Rehabilitation of Shoulder Pathology.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2025Article
- Comparative analysis of functional outcomes in arthroscopic repair for traumatic and non-traumatic rotator cuff injuries.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- On Patient Safety: Could Surgical Fads Have Something in Common With the World's Most Famous Secret Agent?Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2024Article
- Stem cell-based therapeutic strategies for rotator cuff tendinopathy.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2023Review
- Clinical value of three-dimensional ultrasonography in the morphologic evaluation of rotator cuff tear: a prospective study.European radiology · 2023Article
- Identifying Conservative Interventions for Individuals with Subacromial Pain Syndrome Prior to Undergoing a Subacromial Decompression: A Scoping Review.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2023Article
- Tailored modulation of S100A1 and RASSF8 expression by butanediamide augments healing of rotator cuff tears.PeerJ · 2023Article
- Rotator cuff repair with biodegradable high-purity magnesium suture anchor in sheep model.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2022Article
- Inhibition of IKKβ/NF-κB signaling facilitates tendinopathy healing by rejuvenating inflamm-aging induced tendon-derived stem/progenitor cell senescence.Molecular therapy. Nucleic acids · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
14 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRotator cuff disease (RCD) causes prolonged shoulder pain and disability in adults. RCD is a continuum ranging from tendinopathy to full-thickness tendon tear. Recent studies have shown that subacromial decompression and non-surgical treatments provide equivalent results in RCD without a full-thickness tendon lesion. However, the importance of surgery for full-thickness tendon tears remains unclear.
methodsIn a pragmatic, randomised, controlled trial, 417 patients with subacromial pain underwent 3-month initial rehabilitation and MRI arthrography (MRA) for the diagnosis of RCD. Of these, 190 shoulders remained symptomatic and were randomised to non-surgical or surgical treatments. The primary outcomes were the mean changes in the Visual Analogue Scale for pain and the Constant Murley Score for shoulder function at the 2-year follow-up.
resultsAt the 2-year follow-up, both non-surgical and surgical treatments for RCD reduced pain and improved shoulder function. The scores differed between groups by 4 (95% CI -3 to 10, p=0.25) for pain and 3.4 (95% CI -0.4 to 7.1, p=0.077) for function. Among patients with full-thickness ruptures, the reduction in pain (13, 95% CI 5 to 22, p=0.002) and improvement in function (7.0, 95% CI 1.8 to 12.2, p=0.008) favoured surgery.
conclusionsNon-surgical and surgical treatments for RCD provided equivalent improvements in pain and function. Therefore, we recommend non-surgical treatment as the primary choice for patients with RCD. However, surgery yielded superior improvement in pain and function for full-thickness rotator cuff rupture. Therefore, rotator cuff repair may be suggested after failed non-surgical treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION DETAILS: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00695981 and NCT00637013.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.