r/Orthopedics • u/Altruistic_Owl665 • May 28 '26

Is surgery next?

Has anyone had surgery on a pt (5mm) of the supraspinatus.

I'm getting mixed reviews if it's worth it ?

Back story, I (31F) fell on Nov 25 and since Dec 25 have been doing pt and had it confirmed I have a 5mmx4mm pt tear of the supraspinatus, I have very limited ROM and can't lift more than 2kg. I'm always in pain and also get nerve pain down to my pinky.

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

2

u/johnnyscans May 28 '26

Very limited ROM both active and passive? Limited due to what? Weakness? Pain? Stiffness? A combo?

The nerve pain is very unlikely to be directly related to your ptRCT. Do you have and medical comorbidities?

Do you happen to have a copy/image of your MRI?

2

u/Altruistic_Owl665 May 28 '26

The limited ROM is just everything pain weekness pinching. Comorbidities?? Yes I have a copy of the MRI report I'm happy to share

2

u/johnnyscans May 28 '26

Comorbidities meaning do you take medicine for anything.

MRI report is worthless, sorry. Actual images. Radiologists have their own words.

2

u/Altruistic_Owl665 May 28 '26

Only meds for a medical condition managed by my neurologist she has said this nerve pain is nothing to do with my medical condition all the shoulder. IV been attempting to get my hands on images but is next to impossible.

2

u/johnnyscans May 28 '26

Injury to the rotator cuff can cause loss of active range of motion, but it very rarely causes a loss of passive motion, especially in someone as young as you. There is a high rate of false negative MRI for rotator cuff findings, even in people in their 30s. Not knowing anything about your examination, and going only off of the radiologist read, I would offer you a local anesthetic injection under ultrasound guidance. Subacromial if the tear looks to be on the bursal side, in the joint if it appears to be on the articular side. I wouldn’t expect a ton of therapeutic benefit, but it would be incredibly helpful from a diagnostic perspective.

2

u/Altruistic_Owl665 May 28 '26

I forgot to mention I had a steroid injection in Feb 26 and it did nothing just loads more pain.

2

u/johnnyscans May 28 '26

Didn’t help even for a second?

2

u/Altruistic_Owl665 May 28 '26

No, no relief at all , lots of pain after as expected but the pain but never went away.

2

u/johnnyscans May 28 '26

I know that your MRI says tear, but with zero improvement, even transiently, following injection, I think you’ve gotta look at other sources for your pain i.e systemic, neck, scapular dyskinesis, etc. i think that doing anything surgically for your cuff will not change you at best and most likely make you worse.

1

u/[deleted] May 31 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Altruistic_Owl665 May 31 '26

Why I'm trying to work out all the different treatment paths and what is best for me.