2023 COA Annual Meeting: Bone channeling as an adjunct in rotator cuff repair: A systematic review and meta-analysis of level I studies

593 patients from 6 randomized studies were included in this meta-analysis assessing the effect of bone marrow channeling in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair of full thickness tears. Outcomes of interest included pain, functional outcomes, healing, and reoperations. The results of this study found no benefit of bone marrow channeling w/ arthroscopic rotator cuff repair vs. arthroscopic rotator cuff repair alone: no significant differences in pooled function or retear rates were observed. Standardized mean differences for pain and and the risk of reoperation was also similar between the two groups. The quality of the evidence was judged to be low, as per GRADE assessment, suggesting the need for future studies.