Ultrasonographic diagnosis in the evaluation of shoulder pain

The benefit of adding sonography to the examination of patients suffering from shoulder pain, was examined in this retrospective evaluation. A patient suffering from shoulder pain consults generally his family physician, who sends his patient first to a radiography and not to sonography. In 75% of the patients examined by sonography, shoulder lesions were diagnosed, demonstrated in only 33% of radiographs. Most patients had more than one lesion: 38% had partial or full-thickness tears of the supraspinatus tendon, about one third bicipital tendonitis, 18% irregularities of the humeral greater tuberosity, 10% subdeltoid bursitis and about 10% calcified tendonitis. In about a quarter of the patients, no pathology was found. Many patients had more than one lesion. In conclusion, clinicians encountering shoulder pain should not be content with conventional radiography and are encouraged to make sonographic examinations part of the early diagnostic protocol.