Abstract
Objectives:
Rotator Cuff Repair (RCR) is frequently associated with treatment of the long head of the biceps brachii tendon. This is because the biceps tendon is a common pain generator of the shoulder, and it is commonly diseased concurrently with the rotator cuff. Biceps tendinopathy is commonly treated with tenodesis (open or arthroscopic) or tenotomy. Previous studies have shown no differences in complication rates and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) at 2-year follow-up between arthroscopic tenodesis or open tenodesis. Other literature has shown open biceps tenodesis (OBT) to have similar costs and operative time compared to arthroscopic biceps tenodesis (ABT); however, time-driven activity-based costing was not used. The purpose of this study was to evaluate for differences in day of surgery (DOS) costs at one-year for OBT, ABT, and biceps tenotomy in the context of RCR. We hypothesized that cost would be similar between OBT and ABT and would be less for tenotomy. The primary outcome was DOS cost as measured by time-driven activity-based costing. Secondary aims included assessing PROs with the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) score, and the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, as well as operative time, symptomatic retear rate, and reoperation rate at one year.
Methods:
A prospectively collected PRO database was retrospectively reviewed for patients who underwent surgical treatment of their biceps tendon in the setting of primary RCR between 2018 and 2022. Inclusion criteria consisted of patients who underwent supraspinatus or supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendon repair, as well as biceps tenodesis (arthroscopic or open) or tenotomy and had full PRO data at preoperative baseline and at one-year follow up. Patients were excluded if they were missing PRO data, missing cost and implant data, had a prior history of shoulder surgery, underwent revision rotator cuff repair, or had their subscapularis, teres minor, or isolated infraspinatus tendon repaired. A total of 266 patients met criteria. PROs collected included SANE and ASES scores at baseline and one-year follow-up. Patient demographics, injury and surgical characteristics, operative time, retear and reoperation rates, and day of surgery cost were evaluated. Time-driven activity-based costing was used to determine DOS costs. Statistical analyses conducted included descriptive statistics, Fisher exact tests, and analysis of variance.
Results:
Of the 266 patients that met criteria, approximately half were female (n = 131, 49.3%). Mean patient age at time of surgery was 60.4 years old and mean body mass index was 30.15. Chronic tears were present in 55.6% of patients. 113 patients underwent OBT, 75 underwent ABT, and 78 underwent biceps tenotomy. The average values for ASES and SANE scores at baseline versus 1-year follow-up were 46.9 versus 84.3 and 40.2 versus 84.0, respectively. The age of patients who underwent tenotomy (64.2 years old) was significantly older than the ABT (58.7 years old) and OBT (58.8 years old) groups (p < 0.001). Additionally, more women underwent biceps tenotomy versus tenodesis compared to men (37.4% of women vs. 21.5% of men). Mean operative time was significantly different between the groups with tenotomy being the fastest (ABT 128.0 minutes, OBT 139.9 minutes, tenotomy 121.6 minutes, p < 0.001). DOS costs as well as biceps tendon fixation costs were highest for OBT compared to ABT and biceps tenotomy (DOS $3,963.64 vs. $3,426.67 vs. $3,095.34, p < 0.001, respectively; Biceps fixation $505.25 vs. $237.94 vs. $5.15, p < 0.001, respectively). Additionally, overall implant costs (including RCR) were highest for OBT, despite the number of anchors used not differing between the groups (p = 0.132). There was no difference in the number of tendons repaired by bicep treatment type (p = 0.203). Changes in 1-year ASES and SANE scores were not different between the group (p = 0.221 and p = 0.159, respectively). There were also no differences between groups in rotator cuff symptomatic retears or reoperations (p = 0.731 and p = 0.391, respectively).
Conclusions:
This study found DOS costs were lowest for biceps tenotomy and highest for OBT with a difference of more than $850. Operative time from shortest for biceps tenotomy, while OBT was associated with an 18 minute longer operative time. Despite the differences in cost and operative time, there were no differences in PROs, symptomatic rotator cuff retear rates, or reoperation rates at one-year follow-up. These results may indicate that all three treatment types can provide patients with similar outcomes; however, lower operative times and costs can be provided by tenotomy or ABT compared to OBT. Surgeons can use these results to help guide technique selection when treating patients with biceps pathology.
