Cow Collagen Implant Can Help With Healing After Rotator Cuff Surgery

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There is good news for the more than half a million people a year who need surgery to repair their rotator cuff.

As CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez reported, 2 million people a year go to the doctor for shoulder pain. Bill Schrader was one of those people.

"I couldn't raise my arm over my head in order to throw a baseball; throw a football," Schrader said. "It was quite painful."

Schrader's problem was a tear in his rotator cuff – a group of muscles and tendons that surround, move and stabilize the shoulder joint.

Tears often come as a result of repetitive overhead activities, such as throwing a ball or serving in tennis. Tears can also come from the biology of the shoulder joint, which can predispose some people to frayed or weak tenants.

Surgery to repair torn tendons is effective, but repairs take a long time to heal.

"They have a relatively low number of cells to assist in healing. They have poor blood supply – that contributes. Often, the mechanical loads on tendons as we move our joints are high," said Dr. Scott Rodeo of the Hospital for Special Surgery. "All those factors can predispose to poor or incomplete healing."

Schrader had the tear repaired, but then he slipped and fell on some ice.

"I heard the rip, tear, crunch that comes with it," Schrader said. "I knew what had happened."

To help the re-torn tendon heal stronger, Dr. Rodeo used a new, Food and Drug Administration-improved patch or membrane made of cow collagen. During standard surgery, it is placed over the repaired tendon, where it acts as an absorbable scaffold that allows one's own cells to grow into it.

"You can develop more tissue. It kind of thickens the tendon, which helps to kind of share the load, and it seems to have a role in improving healing," Rodeo said.

Two years after the surgery, Schrader is pleased with his progress.

"I'm doing great – I'm back to doing all the things that I do," he said, adding that he can once again throw a baseball and a football. "My right arm is back to being stronger than my left arm, so I'm doing well."

Of course, not everyone with a painful rotator cuff needs surgery. Depending on one's age and level of activity, physical therapy to straighten the shoulder might be enough.

If it is not enough, surgery is very successful. But it does take close to a year to get back to full speed and strength.