Surgery versus Physical Therapy for Rotator Cuff Tear: Insights from OE M.I.N.D. .

Rotator cuff tears continue to be a major focus across orthopaedics, and OE MIND offers a deep look at how the evidence has evolved. Drawing from more than 7,500 RCTs and millions of data points, the platform identifies over 38,000 patients across 243 studies specific to rotator cuff disease. When surgery is compared directly with physiotherapy, pooled data from three RCTs show modest advantages for repair in both Constant Shoulder Score and pain at one year, although the confidence intervals do not exceed accepted MID thresholds. Evidence certainty remains very low due to bias, inconsistency, and imprecision. No new trials are underway comparing surgery with physiotherapy, but 10 ongoing surgical studies signal continued interest. Market insights point to Arthrex, Smith & Nephew, DePuy, Mitek, and Linvatec as the most active contributors to this research space.