Rotator cuffs of both shoulders were investigated by ultrasonography in twenty-five postoperative patients with rotator cuff tears.
Aloka SSD-624 (7.5MHz prove) was used for the study. Shoulders were examined bilaterally, with patients sitting upright and the shoulder in a neutral position. Measurements were made in two directions, the transducer being placed in the fiber direction of the supuraspinatus muscle and also perpendicular to this. And the operated side was compared with the sound side.
Six shoulders showed normal sonograms, and nineteen shoulders had abnormal sonograms with irregular echogenecity, echogenic foci, an irregular superficial layer and thinning of the cuff. The average cuff thickness of the operated shoulder was 4.5mm and that of the normal shoulder was 6.4mm. There was a statistically significant difference between the thickness of the cuff in the shoulders. The cuff thickness in patients with large cuff tears was thinner than that of patients with small tears According to the shoulder evaluation sheet of the J. O. A., scores were lower with the reduced thickness of the rotator cuff.
