Effectiveness of The Neuromuscular Control-Based Exercise Training in the Treatment of Partial-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears

Effectiveness of The Neuromuscular Control-Based Exercise Training in the Treatment of Partial-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears

The aim of this study is to determine and compare the effects of neuromuscular control exercises for the shoulder, and standard conservative exercise programs, which are different forms of exercise and have an important role in the treatment of partial thickness rotator cuff tears on treatment. Thus, it is aimed to compare these exercise types with different mechanisms on treatment, to determine the place of neuromuscular control exercises in treatment and whether they are more effective than conventional exercises.

Rotator cuff (RC) tear shows different symptoms or sometimes can progress asymptomatic. The most common symptoms associated with rotator cuff tears are loss of shoulder range of motion (ROM), shoulder pain exacerbated by overhead activities, nocturnal pain, shoulder dysfunction, and functional limitations. Conservative treatment is the first and most preferred procedure in the treatment of partial tears. Conservative treatment includes patient education, activity modifications, medication, and physiotherapy and rehabilitation programs. In the literature search, it is seen that the studies on the conservative treatment of partial RC tears often include open kinetic chain-weighted standard exercises and strengthening exercise types. It is seen that stabilization and proprioception-based neuromuscular control exercises of the shoulder, which have an important role in restoring neuromuscular control, which is reported to be impaired in shoulder pathologies, are included in some studies and these exercises are generally added to standard treatment. However, it is not known whether neuromuscular control exercises are more effective than other exercises in the standard rehabilitation programs as a result of the combined application of these exercises in this patient group. For this purpose, it is aimed to compare the treatment efficacy of a group consisting of neuromuscular control exercises for the shoulder and a group consisting of conventional exercises and to determine the place of neuromuscular control exercises in treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Forty years of age or older patients that had been diagnosed for a partial rotator cuff tear that was unrelated to trauma by a specialist orthopedist with MRI and physical examination and no other shoulder problems on the diagnosed shoulder were included into this study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients diagnosed with full-thickness or massive rotator cuff tear, patients who had undergone previous surgery, patients diagnosed with frozen shoulder or glenohumeral instability, and athletic patients younger than 40 years of age with symptoms of acute RC tear were not included in this study.