The purpose of this study was to compare the outcome of patients who underwent rotator cuff repair using all arthroscopic or mini-open repair techniques. The type of this study is a retrospective comparative study. We retrospectively reviewed 30 patients who underwent either arthroscopic or mini-open rotator cuff repair. 15 patients underwent mini-open repair and 15 patients had arthroscopic repair. All patients had medium size tears. The outcome of 2 groups was evaluated using range of motion (elevation, abduction, external rotation), Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, abduction power and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) with time (preoperative, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after the operation). No significant difference between the 2 groups were found for any variable preoperatively. JOA score had improved in both groups postoperatively. Abduction power had improved in arthroscopic group. Arthroscopic group showed a significant improvement in abduction power at 3 and 6 months after the operation. Arthroscopic group showed a significant improvement in elevation and JOA score at 6 and 12 months after the operation. In both groups, the clinical outcome had improved postoperatively. In this short-term outcome, the elevation and JOA score of arthroscopic group were improved earlier than those of mini-open group.
