Evaluating the Use of a Bioinductive Graft in Treating Massive Rotator Cuff Tears

Summary

The rotator cuff is a complex of 4 tendons that aid in stabilizing and moving the shoulder. Rotator cuff tears are common shoulder injuries in adults. While some tears can be managed by physiotherapy, other rotator cuff tears will require surgery. On occasion, when a person has had a large rotator cuff tear for a long period of time, the tear can grow and the tendons retract. This effect makes it very difficult for the tendons to be repaired to their normal spot.

The most common surgical technique employed to manage a tear that cannot be repaired is to remove all unhealthy, inflamed scar tissue in a process called debridement. Often there is a bone spur that must be shaved down as well. This can help to reduce the pain in the patient as well as assist the range of motion slightly but will not prevent the tear becoming larger. This will also not prevent a re-tear of the tendons.

Recently, surgeons have begun using a variety of materials to help reconstruct torn rotator cuffs. New grafts made of highly purified collagen from bovine tendons has been used to bridge large gaps in the tendons, and repair the tendon back to the bone. This technique has been done many times by skilled shoulder surgeons in Canada, the United States and around the world.

Initial reports by surgeons who do this procedure show that the patients have less pain and better range of motion than before the surgery. Shoulder surgeons do not know which is the better treatment for large rotator cuff tears. Both treatments (graft and debridement) can reduce pain and improve movement of the shoulder. The purpose of this study is to help determine whether patients who receive an allograft have better function and fewer re-tear at one year after surgery than those who received a debridement alone.

Conditions

• Rotator Cuff Tear
• Rotator Cuff Injury

Interventions

DEVICE

Regeneten

A new scaffold material made of highly purified, type I collagen from bovine tendons has shown great promise as a bioinductive implant that helps induce the formation of new tendon-like tissue over the surface of partial- or full-thickness rotator cuff tears. This new graft material has the benefit of decreasing surgery time, as it takes a few minutes to put in place, while increasing healing and tendon thickness.

PROCEDURE

Debridement

The bursa will be debrided thoroughly, and rotator cuff edges will be shaved down to stable tissue. The rotator cuff will be repaired using multiple single row triple loaded suture anchor placed adjacent to the articular margin

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Smith & Nephew, Inc.

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Ivan Wong

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Ivan Wong, MD · Orthopaedic Surgeon

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-01-01

Primary Completion

2025-03-31

Completion

2025-08-31

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations