Change of calcifications after arthroscopic subacromial decompression

Fifty patients were reviewed after arthroscopic subacromial decompression. Twenty-five had calcific deposits in the rotator cuff visible on x-ray evaluation. Each patient with calcification was matched with a patient without calcification who had a similar state of the rotator cuff, date of surgery, age, and sex. The calcific deposits were left untouched in all cases. No significant difference was found in the postoperative outcome between the patients in the two groups measured by the Constant score. Before surgery 7 (28%) patients had calcifications of <5 mm, and 18 (72%) patients had calcifications that were ≥5 mm. At a 2-year follow-up (n = 24) these figures were 20 (83%) and 4 (17%), respectively (p < 0.001). Postoperative x-ray evaluations revealed a disappearance or decrease in size of the calcific deposits in 19 (79%) of the patients. These results provide new information on the course of calcifying tendinitis, which may indicate that we can leave calcific deposits untouched within the rotator cuff when performing arthroscopic subacromial decompression. (J Shoulder Elbow Surg 1998;7:213-7.)