Objective  To explore the effect of shoulder arthroscopy-assisted double pulley knotless suture bridge technique on shoulder function recovery and joint mobility of patients with rotator cuff tear.

  Methods  Totally 78 patients with rotator cuff tear were randomly divided into control group and observation group, with 39 cases in each group. The control group was treated with traditional arthroscopic suture bridge fixation, while the observation group was treated with shoulder arthroscopy-assisted double pulley knotless suture bridge technique. The recovery of shoulder joint function and joint mobility were compared between the two groups before and after treatment.

  Results  The shoulder Constant score, pain visual analogue score (VAS) and UCLA score of the two groups at 1 year after operation were significantly better than those before operation (P < 0.05), but there were no significant difference in these indexes at 1 year after operation between the two groups (P>0.05). Postoperative shoulder flexion and external rotation were significantly improved in both groups (P < 0.05), but there were no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The incidence rate of joint stiffness was only 5.12% (2/39) in the observation group, and there was no case of rotator cuff re-tearing in the observation group. The incidence rate of joint stiffness in the control group was 28.2% (11/39), and the incidence rate of rotator cuff re-tearing was 23.1% (9/39), and there were significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Both shoulder arthroscopy-assisted double pulley knotless suture bridge technique and traditional suture bridge fixation can improve the shoulder function and joint mobility of patients withrotator cuff tear, but shoulder arthroscopy-assisted double pulley knotless suture bridge technique is better in safety and prognosis.