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Poor Agreement on Classification and Treatment of Subscapularis Tendon Tears
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Poor Agreement on Classification and Treatment of Subscapularis Tendon Tears

Mia Smucny, Edward C Shin, Alan L Zhang, Brian T Feeley, Tatiana Gajiu, Sarah L Hall, C Benjamin Ma and MOON Shoulder Group (Multicenter Orthopedic Outcomes Network)
Arthroscopy, Vol.32(2), pp.246-251.e1
02/2016
DOI: 10.1016/j.arthro.2015.08.006
PMID: 26432431

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Abstract

To assess the inter- and intraobserver agreement for classification and management of subscapularis tendon pathology based on arthroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Twenty-two orthopaedic surgeons from the Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcomes Network (MOON) shoulder group reviewed still arthroscopic and MRI images of the subscapularis tendon from patients with a random assortment of subscapularis morphology. The surgeons were asked to classify the pathology based on 2 systems (Lafosse and Lyons) and choose whether they would repair the tendon and, if so, the method of repair (open or arthroscopic). The survey was administered 3 times to each surgeon. Inter- and intraobserver reliability between testing rounds was determined by kappa analysis. Interobserver reliability on classification of tears was poor based on MRI (k = 0.18 to 0.19) and fair based on arthroscopy (k = 0.26 to 0.29). Interobserver agreement on whether surgical treatment was indicated was fair for both MRI (k = 0.28) and arthroscopy (k = 0.38), while the agreement for type of surgery was poor based on MRI (k = 0.18) and fair based on arthroscopy (k = 0.28). Interobserver agreement did not improve when both MRI and arthroscopy were provided simultaneously (k = 0.24 to 0.30). Intraobserver reliability for classification and treatment was fair to moderate for both MRI (k = 0.32 to 0.50) and arthroscopic imaging (k = 0.39 to 0.56). When considering just those patients with normal tendons, surgeon agreement improved. For all questions, the arthroscopic images had a higher level of agreement among surgeons than the MRI (P < .001). Although surgeons tended to have higher reliability when presented with arthroscopic images compared with MRI, there was very little agreement on the classification and management of subscapularis tendon tears.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Orthopedics Reproducibility of Results Humans Middle Aged Tendon Injuries - pathology Male Shoulder - surgery Tendon Injuries - classification Shoulder - pathology Arthroscopy Adult Female Surveys and Questionnaires Aged Tendon Injuries - surgery Shoulder Injuries Observer Variation

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