Combined Anterior Latissimus Dorsi and Teres Major Tendon Transfer for Anterosuperior Irreparable Rotator Cuff Tears in One-Arm Patients: A Case Report

Introduction: One-arm patients experience a severe burden on the shoulder joint during daily activities, which lead to rotator cuff tears or degenerative joint disease over time. While anterosuperior irreparable rotator cuff tears (ASIRCTs) cause severe shoulder pain and functional impairments, surgeons face challenges due to the lack of a clear treatment protocol. Recently, combined anterior latissimus dorsi and teres major (aLDTM) tendon transfer has emerged as a reasonable treatment option for ASIRCTs. However, there are currently no studies on aLDTM tendon transfer as a joint preserving treatment for ASIRCTs in one-arm patients. Case Report: Totally three one-arm patients were treated with aLDTM tendon transfer for ASIRCTs. The mean age was 55.3 ± 2.1 years old, and all patients were male. Two patients had paralytic limb weakness due to brachial plexus injury and one patient had a one-arm weakness due to burn injury. Three patients showed improvement in clinical outcomes including visual analog scale score, patient reported outcome measurements, active range of motion (aROM), and aROM strength without progression of arthritis or any complications. Conclusion: Based on these results, it has been confirmed that aLDTM tendon transfer is an effective and safe joint preserving treatment option for ASIRCTs in one-arm patients. Keywords: One-arm patients, irreparable rotator cuff tears, anterior latissimus dorsi and teres major tendon transfer.