Background: Rotator cuff retear (RCR) is one of the main postoperative drawbacks. RCR can be considered a multifactorial issue, which causes are related either to biological than biomechanical factors. The aim of this study was to define the incidence of RCR after surgical treatment at different time points and to identify the main factors influencing the postoperative rotator cuff (RC) healing.Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed following the PRISMA guidelines. A comprehensive search of the literature was carried out in July 2020, using PubMed and Cochrane Library databases. Only level 1 and 2 clinical evidence studies were included. Studies were included if patients with preoperative repairable full-thickness RC tears were treated surgically, and if studies reported postoperative RCR confirmed by imaging diagnostic. The association between timing of retear and follow-up time points were investigated using an inverse-variance method of pooling data. A subgroup meta-analysis was performed using the DerSimonian and Laird method for the estimation of the between-study variance, i.e., τ². The association between retear rate after surgery and patients’ age, preoperative tear size, fatty infiltration, postoperative rehabilitation protocol, surgical techniques, and RC repairs was determined by expressing the effect measure in terms of odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). The Mantel-Haenszel method with 95% CIs was used.Results: Thirty-one articles were included in this study. The percentage of RCR after surgery was 15% at 3 months follow-up, 21% at 3–6 months follow-up, 16% at 6–12 months follow-up, 21% at 12–24 months follow-up, 16% at follow-up longer than 24 months. The main factors influencing RC healing are both patient-related (i.e., age, larger tear size, fatty infiltration) and not patient-related (i.e., postoperative rehabilitation protocol, surgical techniques, and procedures).Conclusions: Postoperative RC healing is influenced by patient-related and non-patient-related factors. Further high-level clinical studies are needed to provide highly relevant clinical results.

Background: Recently, structured training programs for sports injury prevention (“The 11” and “The 11+”) have been validated in soccer. The FIFA 11+ program has not been evaluated in basketball. Hypothesis: The FIFA 11+ program is effective in reducing the rates of injury in male basketball players. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1. Methods: The authors randomized 11 teams of the same club. Seven teams were allocated to the intervention group (80 players; mean [SD] age 13.5 [2.3] years), and 4 teams were allocated to the control group (41 players; mean [SD] age 15.2 [4.6] years). The authors conducted an injury surveillance program during a 9-month season. The primary outcome was any injury to the athletes. The secondary outcome was any injury to the lower extremity (foot, ankle, lower leg, knee, thigh, groin, and hip). They included an analysis of the type of exposure (match or training), injury location in the body, and type of injury (acute or overuse). Results: During the 9-month season, 23 (19%) of the 121 players included in the study sustained a total of 31 injuries (14 in the intervention group and 17 in the control group). In the intervention group, injury rates per 1000 athlete-exposures were lower than those in the control group, with statistical significance, for overall injuries (0.95 vs 2.16; P = .0004), training injuries (0.14 vs 0.76; P = .007), lower extremity injuries (0.68 vs 1.4; P = .022), acute injuries (0.61 vs 1.91; P < .0001), and severe injuries (0 vs 0.51; P = .004). The intervention group also had statistically significant lower injury rates for trunk (0.07 vs 0.51; P = .013), leg (0 vs 0.38; P = .007), and hip and groin (0 vs 0.25; P = .023) compared with the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in match injuries, knee injuries, ankle injuries, and overuse injuries between 2 groups. The most frequent acute injury diagnoses were ligament sprains (0.41 and 0.38 in the intervention and control groups, respectively; P < .006) and contractures (0.76 and 0.07 in the control and intervention groups, respectively; P < .003). Conclusion: The FIFA 11+ warm-up program is effective in reducing the rates of injuries in elite male basketball players.

Background: Remote virtual rehabilitation aroused growing interest in the last decades, and its role has gained importance following the recent spread of COVID19 pandemic. The advantages of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), gamification, and telerehabilitation have been demonstrated in several medical fields. In this review, we searched the literature for studies using these technologies for orthopedic rehabilitation and analyzed studies’ quality, type and field of rehabilitation, patients’ characteristics, and outcomes to describe the state of the art of VR, AR, gamification, and telerehabilitation for orthopedic rehabilitation. Methods: A comprehensive search on PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, CINAHL, and Embase databases was conducted. This review was performed according to PRISMA guidelines. Studies published between 2015 and 2020 about remote virtual rehabilitations for orthopedic patients were selected. The Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) and Cochrane Risk-of-Bias assessment tool were used for quality assessment. Results: 24 studies (9 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 15 non-randomized studies) and 2472 patients were included. Studies mainly concern telerehabilitation (56%), and to a lesser extent VR (28%), AR (28%), and gamification (16%). Remote virtual technologies were used following knee and hip arthroplasty. The majority of included patients were between 40 and 60 years old and had a university degree. Remote virtual rehabilitation was not inferior to face-to-face therapy, and physical improvements were demonstrated by increased clinical scores. Orthopedic virtual remote rehabilitation decreased costs related to transports, hospitalizations, and readmissions. Conclusion: The heterogeneity of included studies prevented a meta-analysis of their results. Age and social context influence adaptability to technology, and this can modify compliance to treatment and outcomes. A good relationship between patient and physiotherapist is essential for treatment compliance and new technologies are useful to maintain clinical interactions remotely. Remote virtual technologies allow the delivery of high-quality care at reduced costs. This is a necessity given the growing demand for orthopedic rehabilitation and increasing costs related to it. Future studies need to develop specific and objective methods to evaluate the clinical quality of new technologies and definitively demonstrate advantages of VR, AR, gamification, and telerehabilitation compared to face-to face orthopedic rehabilitation.

Rotator cuff disease is among the most common musculoskeletal disorders with high direct and indirect costs in industrialized countries. Not all rotator cuff tears are symptomatic. Genetics has recently been investigated as a factor involved in the pathogenesis of rotator cuff pathology. Genetic factors seem to be involved in symptom presentation and tear progression. As rotator cuff disease is multifactorial, no single gene is directly involved in the pathology. Phenotypic expression of genetic susceptibility manifests at the level of ultrastructure of the tendon. Predisposing genes may also operate through apoptosis and regenerative capacity. Studies on cellular and molecular biology are more numerous, but still incomplete, and recently have focussed on the role of apoptosis in tendinopathy, analyzing its key mediators and cellular changes. Oxidative stress is responsible for reduction of collagen synthesis. Biological investigations have identified recently new risk factors. Preliminary reports introduced the possible role of glucose as a risk factor for rotator cuff tear. Further studies are required to fully clarify the genetic and biological factors involved in rotator cuff tears.

The pathogenesis of rotator cuff tears is multifactorial. Tendon abnormalities of the rotator cuff include alteration of collagen fiber structure, tenocytes, cellularity, and vascularity. Ruptured tendons show marked collagen degeneration and disordered arrangement of collagen fibers. Fibroblast population decreases as the size of the tear in the rotator cuff increases. The larger fibroblast population seen in the smaller tears is also actively proliferating and is part of an active reparative process. Inflammatory cell infiltrate correlates inversely to rotator cuff tear size in the torn supraspinatus tendon samples, with larger tears showing a marked reduction in all cell types. As tear size increase, there is also a progressive decrease in the number of blood vessels. Whether rotator cuff tear heals spontaneously is an important pathologic and clinical question. Histologic changes indicative of repair and inflammation lead to consider biological options in addition to biomechanical treatment of the rotator cuff tears.

Rotator cuff tears are common, and lead to shoulder pain and functional impairment. Despite their frequency and related disability, etiology and pathogenesis are still debated. Multiple factors contribute to tears of the rotator cuff. Extrinsic factors are anatomic variables, such as acromial morphologic characteristics, os acromiale, and acromial spurs that compress the rotator cuff by bony impingement or direct pressure from the surrounding soft tissue. Intrinsic factors arise from the tendon itself, because of tensile overload, aging, microvascular supply, traumatisms, or degeneration. Little information is available from a cellular and molecular point of view. We reviewed the biological factors involved in the pathogenesis of rotator cuff tears. Understanding the mechanism of rotator cuff pathology would facilitate the rationale for therapeutic interventions, by guiding the design, selection, and implementation of treatment strategies such as biologic modulation and preventive measures.