Patch Augmentation for Rotator Cuff Repair: Indications, Techniques, and Outcomes

Full-thickness rotator cuff tears are common in the aging population. Relatively high failure rates have been reported after treatment of large and massive cuff tears. The suboptimal results seen in many patients after failed repair of large and massive tears have stimulated the development of various tissue augmentation scaffolds to potentially enhance repair constructs. This chapter reviews the literature with regard to xenograft, allograft, and synthetic scaffold augmentations. In this chapter, we describe the surgical technique for human dermal allograft rotator cuff augmentation, and early results of the technique are also discussed.