The shoulder impingement syndrome: prevalence of radiographic findings and correlation with response to therapy

Abstract

The shoulder impingement syndrome is believed to be caused by compression of the rotator cuff tendons and subacromial bursa between the humeral head and structures that make up the coracoacromial arch. Plain film findings were tabulated for 36 patients, 22-81 years old, who had signs and symptoms of an acute impingement syndrome. The most common radiographic abnormalities were subacromial bony proliferation in 68%, degenerative changes in the greater tuberosity of the humerus in 66%, and degenerative joint disease in the acromioclavicular joint in 66%. There was evidence of calcium deposition in the rotator cuff in 37%, inferiorly oriented acromioclavicular osteophytes in 32%, and degenerative changes of the lesser humeral tuberosity in 29%. The acromiohumeral space was narrowed in only 21%. The radiographic findings were scored blindly and compared to the treatment outcome of 6 weeks of medical therapy. There was no statistically significant correlation between any of the radiographic findings and the response to medical therapy. The results suggest that radiographic findings are extremely common in patients with the acute impingement syndrome, but that they are not useful as prognostic indicators of the short-term response to medical treatment.