Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jul 22:2010:1107.

Shoulder pain

Richard J Murphy  1 , Andrew J Carr
Affiliations

Shoulder pain

Richard J Murphy et al. BMJ Clin Evid. .

Abstract

Introduction: Shoulder pain is a common problem with an estimated prevalence of 4% to 26%. About 1% of adults aged over 45 years consult their GP with a new presentation of shoulder pain every year in the UK. The aetiology of shoulder pain is diverse and includes pathology originating from the neck, glenohumeral joint, acromioclavicular joint, rotator cuff, and other soft tissues around the shoulder girdle. The most common source of shoulder pain is the rotator cuff, accounting for over two-thirds of cases.

Methods and outcomes: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of oral drug treatment, topical drug treatment, local injections, non-drug treatment, and surgical treatment? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to August 2009 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Results: We found 71 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

Conclusions: In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: acupuncture, arthroscopic subacromial decompression, autologous whole blood injection, corticosteroids (oral, subacromial injection, or intra-articular injection), electrical stimulation, excision of distal clavicle, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, ice, laser treatment, manipulation under anaesthesia, suprascapular nerve block, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (oral, topical or intra-articular injection), opioid analgesics, paracetamol, physiotherapy (manual treatment, exercises), platelet-rich plasma injection, rotator cuff repair, shoulder arthroplasty, and ultrasound.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Mitchell C, Adebajo A, Hay E, et al. Shoulder pain: diagnosis and management in primary care. BMJ 2005;331:1124–1128. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Royal College of General Practitioners; Office of Populations, Censuses and Surveys. Third national morbidity survey in general practice, 1980–1981; Department of Health and Social Security, series MB5 No 1. London: HMSO.
    1. Bergunnud H, Lindgarde F, Nilsson B, et al. Shoulder pain in middle age. Clin Orthop 1988;231:234–238. - PubMed
    1. McCormack RR, Inman RD, Wells A, et al. Prevalence of tendinitis and related disorders of the upper extremity in a manufacturing workforce. J Rheumatol 1990;17:958–964. - PubMed
    1. Allander E. Prevalence, incidence and remission rates of some common rheumatic diseases or syndromes. Scand J Rheumatol 1974;3:145–153. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources