Introduction:

in the treatment the long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT) pathology, the «relaxed tenodesis» is an arthroscopic articular suprapectoral tenodesis that seeks to lower the tension on the LHBT, and therefore, theoretically avoid persistent pain.

Objective:

to assess clinical and radiological results of «relaxed» tenodesis in a prospective cohort of patient with work related illness.

Material and methods:

prospective cohort, 54 shoulders with «relaxed» tenodesis performed with an intra-articular interference screw by the same surgeon, from October 2014 to 2018, in a level 1 trauma center. Demographic, clinical, functional and radiologic results were analyzed. On 6 months follow-up, a sonographic and clinical assessment was performed.

Results:

mean age 49 ± 9, mean follow-up 16 ± 4 months. The main diagnosis was a rotator cuff tear in 79%, primary biceps pathology in 10% and other pathologies in 11%. At the end of follow-up, the cohort showed active anterior elevation 157.7 ± 22.7, external rotation 47 ± 16.6, median internal rotation T12, Constant Score 83 ± 12.05 points, subjective shoulder value 83 ± 12.97% and pain visual analogue scale 1.4 ± 1.7 points. One patient had a biceps tear and two had cosmetic arm asymmetry. On ultrasound 98% had the LHBT in situ and 10% had inflammatory changes on the bicipital groove. There were complications in 21% of the sample.

Conclusions:

«relaxed biceps tenodesis» is a technique that shows good clinical, functional and sonographic results, with low failure rate.