The Painful Shoulder: Ultrasonographic Measurements of Supraspinatus Thickness, Pain Scores and Treatment

• Published in: Medicine and science in sports and exercise 2012-05, Vol.44 (5S), p.714-714
• Main Authors: Hillinger, Marni, Visco, Christopher
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0195-9131

We hypothesize that a positive correlation exists and that this could aid clinical development of targeted treatment strategies and earlier identification of those who require a more aggressive therapeutic approach. A retrospective analysis of supraspinatus thickness was performed by analyzing ultrasonographic shoulder examinations of patients who presented to the Columbia University musculoskeletal clinic with a primary complaint of shoulder pain. This included 58 separate shoulder studies among 52 different patients. An average thickness was obtained by utilizing the DICOM ultrasonographic software ruler tool. Outpatient records were reviewed including pertinent follow-up visits. Pain scores and treatment at the time of presentation and follow-up were recorded. There was no correlation (Pearson correlation =-0.008) found between supraspinatus tendinous thickness and pain scores at the time of presentation. Average supraspinatus thickness was found to be 0.506cm + or - 0.113 among women and 0.556cm + or -0.157 among men. Average pain score was found to be 5.4+ or -2.2 among women and 5.7+ or -2.28 among men on initial evaluation.