Muscle Relaxation Relieves Post-operative Pain During Hospitalization After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair—A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Post-operative pain is a major early complication of rotator cuff tear surgery and its management is important for improving patient satisfaction. This study was to compare early post-operative pain severity in patients undergoing rotator cuff repair with or without shoulder muscle relaxation. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed from January 2022 to June 2022. For group A, which had 178 patients, conservative rehabilitation (only passive forward flexion up to a tolerable range, active elbow flexion and extension) was performed during hospitalization. For group B, which had 196 patients, relaxing shoulder muscle tone was performed on the basis of conservative rehabilitation from the day after surgery. Both resting and locomotor pain scores were recorded before and after operation. Primary outcomes were pain intensity using the numeric rating scale. Results: In general, before and after operation, locomotor pain was more obvious than resting pain in patients. In both groups, levels of post-operative resting pain were increased on the surgical day and on the 1 ^st post-operative day. Compared to Group A, Group B had lower resting pain scores on the surgical day and on the 1 ^st post-operative day, and Group B had lower locomotor pain scores on the 1 ^st and 2 ^nd post-operative day. In both groups, levels of post-operative resting and locomotor pain were decreased on the 2 ^nd post-operative day. In addition, Group B used less postoperative additional analgesic. Conclusion : Muscle relaxation is an effective approach for reducing the early post-operative pain after rotator cuff repair during hospitalization. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.