Muscle compensation strategies to maintain glenohumeral joint stability with increased rotator cuff tear severity: A simulation study

Rotator cuff tear (RCT) in older adults may cause decreased muscle forces and disrupt the force balance at the glenohumeral joint, compromising joint stability. Our objective was to identify how increased RCT severity affects glenohumeral joint loading and muscle activation patterns using a computational model. Muscle volume measurements were used to scale a nominal upper limb model's peak isometric muscle forces to represent force-generating characteristics of an average older adult male. Increased RCT severity was represented by systematically decreasing peak isometric muscle forces of supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and subscapularis. Five static postures in both scapular and frontal planes were evaluated. Results revealed that in both scapular and frontal planes, the peak glenohumeral joint contact force magnitude remained relatively consistent across increased RCT severity (average 1.5% and −4.2% change, respectively), and a relative balance of the transverse force couple is maintained even in massive RCT models. Predicted muscle activations of intact muscles, like teres minor, increased (average 5–30% and 4–17% in scapular and frontal planes, respectively) with greater RCT severity. This suggests that the system is prioritizing glenohumeral joint stability, even with severe RCT, and that unaffected muscles play a compensatory role to help stabilize the joint.

© This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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Work Title Muscle compensation strategies to maintain glenohumeral joint stability with increased rotator cuff tear severity: A simulation study
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Sujata Khandare
  2. Richard A. Arce
  3. Meghan E. Vidt
Keyword
  1. Rotator cuff
  2. Computational model
  3. Glenohumeral joint
  4. Muscle activation
  5. Force couple
  6. Tear severity
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
Publication Date January 21, 2022
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2019.07.005
Deposited July 05, 2023

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added JEK_SI_revision_June2019_v4_clean-Accepted_Version.docx
  • Added Creator Sujata Khandare
  • Added Creator Richard A. Arce
  • Added Creator Meghan E. Vidt
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Rotator cuff, Computational model, Glenohumeral joint, Muscle activation, Force couple, Tear severity
    Publication Date
    • 2022-02-01
    • 2022-01-21
  • Updated