The rotator cuff consists of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis, attached to the greater or lesser tuberosity at the upper end of the humerus. The tendons of these four muscles around the shoulder joint form a cuff-like structure, which is figuratively called the rotator cuff. The injuries of these tendons and soft tissues are called rotator cuff injuries. Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair is a clinically recognized and effective treatment for rotator cuff injury. Studies have illustrated that early rehabilitation is superior to delayed rehabilitation in shoulder motion, pain, and self-perception.

To compare the mid-and long-term effects of early rehabilitation and delayed rehabilitation on postoperative rotator cuff injury by MATE analysis.

The published domestic and foreign clinical randomized controlled trials were searched as of July 11, 2020. The databases searched include CNKI, CQVIP, Wanfang Data, CBM, Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase, etc. Two investigators independently conducted literature screening, data extraction, and evaluation of the risk of bias in the included literatures. They then extracted the outcome indicators (VAS score, Constant-Murley score, SST score, flexion, abduction and external rotation, and retear) . Review Manager 5.3 software was utilized for data analysis.

Based on the above search strategy, 641 relevant documents were retrieved, and 8 documents were finally included, with 720 patients. The results of Mate analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the comparison of early rehabilitation group and delayed rehabilitation group in postoperative VAS score of [MD=0.02, 95% CI=-0.10~0.14, P>0.05], and the postoperative Constant-Murley score [MD=0.89, 95% CI=-1.47~3.26, P>0.05], postoperative SST score [MD=0.19, 95% CI= -0.22~0.59, P>0.05], postoperative shoulder flexion [MD=1.11, 95% CI =-1.43~3.65, P>0.05], postoperative shoulder abduction and external rotation [MD=1.36, 95% CI=0.97~3.70, P>0.05], postoperative rotator cuff retear [MD=0.96, 95% CI=0.48~1.94, P>0.05].

There was no significant difference in the incidence of mid-and long-term rotator cuff retearing in the early mobilization group and the delayed rehabilitation group, indicating that early mobilization after rotator cuff repair was equally safe; the two groups of patients had medium and long-term VAS scores, There was no significant difference in Constant-Murley score, SST score, shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, and external rotation, indicating that the two groups of patients had no apparent abnormalities in postoperative pain, shoulder joint function, and self-feeling, suggesting early rehabilitation after rotator cuff repair is also effective.There was no significant difference in the incidence of mid-and long-term rotator cuff retear in the early rehabilitation and delayed rehabilitation groups, indicating that early rehabilitation after rotator cuff repair was equally safe. There were no significant differences between the two groups in mid-and long-term VAS scores, Constant-Murley scores, SST scores, shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, and external rotation, indicating that the two groups of patients had no apparent abnormalities in postoperative pain, shoulder joint function, and self-perception, suggesting that the early rehabilitation after rotator cuff repair is equally effective.