Rotator Cuff Tear: Pathogenesis, Evaluation and Treatment

This handbook provides detailed, state of the art information on simple and complex rotator cuff tears that will be of value in daily clinical practice. It covers all relevant aspects, including basic science, pathogenesis, clinical and instrumental evaluation, and treatment techniques. Drawing on the results of recent studies, the book will enable the reader to better understand how tears occur and what treatment should be employed in different circumstances.

Rotator cuff tear has always attracted great interest because it may cause shoulder pain, loss of strength, simple or complex disabilities, and partial or total inability to work, reducing quality of life. The goals of cuff repair are to restore footprint anatomy with biomechanically secure, tension-free construction that promotes biological healing at the tendon-to-bone interface. Even today, there is cause for discussion about when and how to perform surgical repair and on what to do in cases of irreparable rupture.This book casts light on such issues. It is especially designed for shoulder surgeons and rehabilitation specialists and will also be of value for residents and shoulder fellows.

Stefano Gumina, MD, PhD, is Professor in Orthopedics and Traumatology in the Department of Anatomy, Histology, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics and Traumatology at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Since 2008 he has worked as an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in shoulder surgery, at the Clinic of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Sapienza University of Rome. His interest in shoulder disorders and surgery dates back to 1990 and is reflected by the publication of numerous papers in Italian and international journals. In 1997 he became an Associate Member of the European Society for the Surgery of the Shoulder and Elbow (ESSSE/SECEC). In 1999–2000 he served as the President’s Secretary of the Italian Society of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery (SICSEG) and in 2001 he was elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the society. In 2000 and 2001 he spent periods as a fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and the Rush Presbyterian-St Luke’s Hospital at Chicago. In 2001 he was nominated as an Ordinary Member of ESSSE/SECEC. In 2003 he obtained his doctorate in Physiopathology of the Skeletal Apparatus, focusing his attention on shoulder disorders. In September 2005 he organized in Rome, with Professor Postacchini, the 19th Congress of ESSSE/SECEC, and in 2006 he was nominated as a Corresponding Member of the American Shoulder & Elbow Surgeons. He is currently Vice President of SICSEG (Italian Society of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery).