Prediction of Rotator Cuff Injury Associated with Acromial Morphology: A Three‐Dimensional Measurement Study

• Published in: Orthopaedic surgery 2020-10, Vol.12 (5), p.1394-1404
• Main Authors: Zeng, Yi‐Ming, Xu, Chen, Zhang, Kai, Yu, De‐Gang, Zhang, Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acromial morphology; Arthritis; Arthroscopy; Bursitis; Clinical; Injuries; Medical imaging; Morphology; Rotator cuff; Rotator cuff tear; Software; Surgery; Tendons; Three‐dimensional measurement
• ISSN: 1757-7853; 1757-7861
• DOI: 10.1111/os.12774

Objective To analyze the relationship between the acromial morphology and the related rotator cuff injury using a three‐dimensional (3D) measurement technology. Methods For the present study, 226 patients (113 men and 113 women) who underwent shoulder Coarthroscopy from June 2015 to December 2019 at the Department of Orthopedics at our hospital were selected retrospectively. A total of 113 shoulder joints of age‐matched healthy people were selected as the control group. A 3D model coordinate system of the shoulder was established based on CT scan images. Patients were grouped according to the condition of the rotator cuff injury during surgery. The patients whose rotator cuff tear site corresponded to the 3D osseous proliferative structure of the acromion were classified into the impingement injury group (II group). The other patients were classified into the non‐impingement injury group (NII group). The acromiohumeral interval (AHI), the acromial anterior protrusion (AAP), the acromial inferior protrusion (AIP), the acromioclavicular angle (AC angle), the distance from the most medial edge of the acromial anterolateral protrusion (AALP) to the most lateral point of acromion (MLPA) (a), the distance from the most posteromedial edge of the AALP to the MLPA (b), the anteroposterior diameters of the AALP (c), and the proportion of anteroposterior diameters of AALP to the anteroposterior diameters of acromion, (c/c + d) × 100(%), were measured using the 3D shoulder model. Results The results of the intraobserver (87%) analysis found the parameters to have high intraobserver and interobserver concordance. There were no significant differences in age among the control group, the NII group, and the II group (P = 0.8416). There were significant differences in AAP among the three groups (P = 0.0374). The results were the same for men and women, respectively. The AAP in the control group and the NII group did not show a difference, while the AAP in the II group was increased by 26.9% (P = 0.015) and 25% (P = 0.023), respectively, compared with the NII group and the control group. AHI, AIP, and AC angles did not show significant differences among the three groups (P > 0.05). The (a) and (b) of the II group were significantly larger than those of the NII group; P‐values were 0.0119 and 0.0003, respectively. The (a) and (b) in patients with rotator cuff injuries were larger than in the normal population (P