Editorial Commentary: To Move or Not to Move the Shoulder, That Is the Question.

Abstract

Whether to use an immediate range of motion exercise protocol or, rather, to delay the initiation of rehabilitation exercises for patients after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair presents a significant dilemma for the treating surgeon. The study "The Effect of Early Range of Motion on Quality of Life, Clinical Outcome, and Repair Integrity After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair" by Mazzocca, Arciero, Shea, Apostolakos, Solovyova, Gomlinski, Wojcik, Tafuto, Stock, and Cote reveals that no differences in quality of life scores or rotator cuff healing were identified after comparing 2 groups of patients undergoing either immediate (within 3 days) or delayed (after 28 days) postoperative rehabilitation protocols. These results underscore the fact that little data has been published to date that demonstrates an optimum time period for initiating postoperative rehabilitation after rotator cuff repair.