Study Summary

40 patients with rotator cuff injury were randomized in a double-blind fashion to receive either intra-articular tranexamic acid (2 g diluted to 20 mL) or intra-articular normal saline (20 mL) immediately following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. All patients completed follow-up and were included in the final analysis. The outcomes of interest was functional recovery assessed using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder rating, constant shoulder score, pain intensity measured by visual analog scale, muscle strength, and external rotation values. Outcomes were assessed preoperatively and at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postoperatively. Overall, the results of the study revealed that intra-articular tranexamic acid resulted in significantly greater improvements in shoulder function scores at follow-up compared with saline, while pain scores improved similarly in both groups.