Blood Flow Restriction Versus Standard Exercise After Rotator Cuff Repair

Protocol based on the best available evidence and to be used in all participants in both groups. The standard exercises protocol will consist of three postoperative rehabilitation phases: phase I (weeks 1 to 4), phase II (weeks 5 to 8) and phase III (weeks 9 to 12). Sessions will be held 2 times a week for 12 weeks. Each session will last 45 minutes and will consist of six exercises in the phase I, eight exercises in phase II, and eight exercises in phase III.

Participants will perform three exercises of the standard exercises protocol with BFRT. An auto-regulated portable BFRT SmartCuffs® 3.0 Pro system with a 17-inch long and 5-inch-wide cuff (Smart Tools Plus, United States), placed on the most proximal part of the arm, will be used. Each BFRT session will begin with a maximal occlusion test to personalize the occlusion pressure to the participant. The limb occlusion pressure (LOP) will be set at 50% of the maximum occlusion pressure in the first stage and 60% in stages II and III. The participant will perform 75 repetitions per BFRT exercise divided into 4 sets (30, 15, 15, and 15 repetitions). The load intensity during the BFRT exercises will be set near to 3 out of 10 on the Borg's CR10 scale ("weak"), which corresponds to 30% of a 1RM effort. After each exercise, the cuff will be deflated, and the patient will rest for two minutes.