Table 1.

Overview of human studies evaluating therapy protocols of rotator cuff repair.

Study	Study type	Sample size	Follow-up	Results and conclusions
Chang et al.38	Systematic review and meta-analysis	n = 482 (six RCT)	Baseline, three, and six months	Early ROM exercise protocols accelerated recovery and postoperative stiffness, but likely result in improper tendon healing with large tears.
Sheps et al.46	RCT	n = 189	Six weeks and three, six, 12, and 24 months	The early motion group demonstrated increased abduction and scapular plane elevation (p = 0.002) at six weeks, but no difference afterward. No difference in clinical outcomes or ADLs for early mobilization or immobilized groups at 24 months.
Koh et al.42	RCT	n = 100	Six and 24 months	No difference in healing rate between four and eight months of immobilization after RCR for medium-sized rotator cuff tears.
Kim et al.16	Case series	n = 221	Three and 12 months	Retears are infrequent after three months if sufficient healing and integrity demonstrated by repair at three months.
Iannotti et al.53	Cohort study	n = 113	Two, six, 12, 16, 26, 39, and 52 weeks	Recurrent retear rate on MRI evaluation of RCR is 17% within one year. Retears primarily occur between six and 26 weeks.
Cuff and Pupello39	RCT	n = 68	Nine and 12 months	Slightly higher rotator cuff healing rate in delayed PROM versus early PROM, but similar outcomes at one year in both groups.
Lee et al.43	RCT	n = 64	Three, six, and 12 months	Increased risk of anatomic failure may occur with aggressive early passive rehabilitation versus limited early passive rehabilitation.
Kim et al.41	RCT	n = 105	Three, six, and 12 months	Early PROM exercise did not statistically improve early gains in ROM or alleviate pain, but did not negatively affect cuff healing.
Arndt et al.37	Randomized prospective study	n = 100	Three, six, 12, and final follow-up	Early passive motion demonstrated improved functional results with no significant difference in healing.
Duzgun et al.40	RCT	n = 29	One, three, five, eight, 12, 16, and 24 weeks	Accelerated protocols were superior to slow protocol in functional activity level and pain during activity and at night.
Raab et al.45	RCT	n = 26	Three months	CPM had a beneficial effect on ROM and pain relief for female patients and patients ≥60 years old, but no effect on overall shoulder score at three months.

ADL: activities of daily living; CPM: continuous passive motion; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; PROM: passive range of motion; RCR: rotator cuff repair; RCT: randomized control trial; ROM: range of motion.