Charles Bessière

Massive irreparable rotator cuff tears: how to rebalance the cuff-deficient shoulder.

In its natural state, the shoulder is unbalanced in both the vertical and horizontal planes because the deltoid is stronger than the rotator cuff muscles and the internal rotator muscles are stronger than the external rotator muscles. With aging, this muscle imbalance can become worse, leading to tendon wear, irreversible fatty infiltration of the rotator cuff muscles, and upward migration of the humeral head. Most shoulders with tendon wear are functional and asymptomatic. A traumatic event (such as a fall onto the upper limb) can lead to rotator cuff tearing and a shoulder that becomes symptomatic and nonfunctional. Symptomatic massive irreparable rotator cuff tears present in one of four recognizable patterns depending on the muscular imbalance that occurs and the symptoms that are present: painful loss of active elevation, with conserved muscle balance; isolated loss of active elevation, with loss of vertical muscle balance; isolated loss of external rotation, with loss of horizontal muscle balance; and combined loss of elevation and external rotation, with loss of vertical and horizontal muscle balance. Assessing the plane of shoulder muscle imbalance is a key feature in the decision-making process. Classifying and understanding these tears allows surgeons to select the correct treatment (conservative measures, arthroscopic techniques, reverse shoulder arthroplasty, or tendon transfers) to restore shoulder balance and function.

Percutaneous Medial Ligament Reconstruction for Valgus Knee Instability

Injuries to stabilizing elements on the medial side of the knee are one of the most common knee ailments. Because of the good healing capacity of these structures, acute injuries are typically treated conservatively. However, valgus laxity near full extension can persist in some patients. This laxity may be the source of instability due to medial joint space opening, which then requires surgical treatment. Various procedures have been described that aim to reproduce the anatomy of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and the posterior oblique ligament (POL), which work together to stabilize the medial aspect of the knee. However, these are complex open surgical procedures, technically demanding to achieve the favorable isometry, which prevent joint contracture or recurrence of laxity. The purpose of this study was to describe a short construct that minimizes the risk of secondary loss of tension and complies with the principle of favorable anisometry. The graft is positioned in the joint opening axis, between the deep bundle of the MCL and the POL.