2006 年 30 巻 2 号 p. 277-280
The purpose of this study was to examine indication of conservative treatment for partial thickness tears of the rotator cuff, we reviewed the medical history and arthrographic findings of the cases that had conservative treatment for partial thickness joint side tears of the rotator cuff. We studied the 71 shoulders of 71 patients who could be diagnosed as joint side tear of the rotator cuff by shoulder arthrogram. Arthrography was repeated 6 months after initial visit and treatment We compared the arthrographic findings of the initial visit with those of six months after. Then we defined the case when the tear size was reduced as improvement, the case when the tear size was not changed as unchanging, the case when the tear size was extended as deterioration. We divided the cases into two groups; the improvement group (21 shoulders) and the unchanging+deterioration group (50 shoulders). The differences between the two groups were tested for statistical significance about age, duration from onset of symptom to initial visit, sexuality, presence of trauma, presence of contracture, the maximum dimension of tear (ratio of humeral head) and location of tear.21 cases of the 71 cases had improved. Cases with a partial thickness tear at SSP had deteriorated significantly compared with ISP (p <0.05). In cases with a partial thickness tear at ISP, the smaller maximum dimension of cuff tear at initial visit, the more the condition had significantly improved.30% of the partial thickness tears improved during conservative treatment for six months. Though conservative treatment was not approximately effective for partial thickness tears at SSP, conservative treatment was effective for the smaller maximum dimension of a partial thickness tear at ISP.