Is routine coracoplasty necessary in isolated subscapularis tears?

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effect of simultaneous coracoplasty on postoperative clinical outcomes of patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopy due to the tear of the isolated subscapularis.

Patients and methods: The study included 53 patients (16 males, 37 females; mean age 55.8 years; range, 44 to 70 years) who underwent arthroscopic repair for isolated subscapularis tear (type 2 and type 3) with anterior shoulder pain and tenderness. All patients had a coracohumeral distance of less than 7 mm on the preoperative magnetic resonance images and a minimum follow-up period of two years. Patients were divided into two groups as group 1 including patients who underwent coracoplasty and group 2 including those who did not undergo coracoplasty. Patients were evaluated pre- and postoperatively by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder score and the simple shoulder test (SST) score.

Results: There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of age, gender and follow-up time (p>0.05). The preoperative mean UCLA score was 19.65 for group 1 and 20.45 for group 2. The postoperative mean UCLA scores were 27.92 and 29.00, respectively. The preoperative mean SST score was 4.9 for group 1 and 5.1 for group 2. The postoperative mean SST scores were 10.0 and 9.5, respectively. Functional scores increased significantly in both groups postoperatively when compared to the preoperative values (p<0.01). However, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of the increase in UCLA and SST scores between the two groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: We believe that concomitant coracoplasty during arthroscopic repair may not be a necessary routine in the treatment of isolated subscapularis tears.