Shoulder Involvement in Daily Practice – Ultrasonographic Approach

Shoulder involvement is one of the most frequent findings in rheumatology and many of the rheumatic diseases can determine inflammatory lesions, as well as degenerative ones. Due to the non-specificity of clinical symptoms, imaging methods are emerging into the daily practice in order to establish an accurate diagnosis.

Objectives. The aim of the study was to determine the presence of different pathologic changes in patients with shoulder pain, depending on the concurrent disease and associated risk factors.

Material and methods. We included in our retrospective study 40 consecutive patients that presented with shoulder pain, during the past 6 months, in the Department of Rheumatology. All those patients underwent ultrasound evaluation according to EULAR Guidelines for musculoskeletal Ultrasound in Rheumatology.

Results. Rotator cuff lesions, which most commonly underlie non traumatic pain in adults, were detected with frequencies similar to the ones described by the literature. It seems that comorbidities, as the presence of diabetes, may influence tendon degeneration or rupture.

Conclusions. Although it included a relatively low number of subjects, our paper reveals data similar to the ones previously published and underlines the necessity of applying an algorithm for managing shoulder pathology, that should mandatory include ultrasonography examination, in order to obtain an accurate diagnosis and individualize each patient's therapeutic approach and improve their life quality.