Rotator Cuff Repairs With and Without Acromioplasties Yield Similar Clinical Outcomes: A Meta-analysis and Systematic Review

Purpose: This meta-analysis reviews the current literature comparing the patient-reported outcome measures of patients who underwent rotator cuff repairs with and without acromioplasties. Method: A comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus databases, obtaining 1,456 studies for the review. After the filtering process, 8 studies remained for our meta-analysis, of which 7 were prospective trials. From the included studies, the postoperative outcomes of 3,034 shoulders were studied. Data were analyzed using Mantel-Haenszel statistics and random-effect models where appropriate. Results: Our meta-analysis revealed that there was no significant difference in American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scores (standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.10 to 0.28; I-2 = 9%; P =.36), University of California at Los Angeles scores (SMD, 0.17; 95% CI, -0.07 to 0.40; I-2 = 0%; P =.17), and rate of further surgery (odds ratio, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.04 to 5.66; I-2 = 59%; P =.57) between the acromioplasty and nonacromioplasty groups. There was a statistical difference in the Constant score (SMD, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.48; I-2 = 0%; P =.03) of both groups. However, with the Constant score having an SMD of only 0.25, the difference in Constant score was not clinically significant. Conclusions: There were no clinically significant differences in postoperative functional scores and pain scores for patients who underwent rotator cuff repairs with and without acromioplasties.