SPeEDy: Surgery vs PhysiothErapist-leD exercise for traumatic RC tears
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Surgery versus PhysiothErapist-leD exercise for traumatic tears of the rotator cuff: A multi-centre pilot and feasibility randomised controlled trial (SPeEDy)
IRAS ID
253194
Contact name
Chris Littlewood
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Keele University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Shoulder pain is common. The muscles and tendons of the shoulder, known as the rotator cuff, are thought to be the most common cause of this pain. Tears of the rotator cuff are reasonably common and can occur due to ageing or following injury, for example a fall or a sudden awkward movement of the shoulder.
Currently if people develop shoulder pain following injury and there is concern that the rotator cuff is torn, guidance states that they should be fast-tracked for surgical opinion. But, research evidence casts doubt on this. Some research suggests that surgery is no better than physiotherapist-led exercise for patients with tears of the rotator cuff.
Given this uncertainty, the risks associated with surgery, for example infection, and costs, there is a clear need for high-quality research comparing these two treatment approaches.
The plan is to first work out if a large high-quality trial might be feasible by conducting a pilot study, working with eight UK NHS hospitals. People with a tear of the rotator cuff related to injury, for example a fall, for whom an operation is being considered, will be offered the opportunity to take part. Participants will be allocated to receive either surgery or a programme of physiotherapist-led exercise. As well as collecting information about shoulder pain and function, the study also aims to find out whether orthopaedic surgeons, physiotherapists and patients will want to participate in the study and if they do, whether they remain in the study. It will also find out whether those who are
allocated to receive a programme of physiotherapist-led exercise still end up having surgery.All this information will be used to determine if a future large trial is feasible. The future large trial would determine the most effective treatment for patients with traumatic rotator cuff tears.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
19/SS/0098
Date of REC Opinion
9 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion