ROLE OF ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN EVALUATION OF ROTATOR CUFF INJURY

Abstract

Objective: To determine the role of ultrasonography in the evaluation of rotator cuff injury in patients with chronic shoulder pain. Methodology: All the patients aged 30 to 80 years, suspected of rotator cuff injury were consecutively enrolled. These were then assessed by using ultrasound. Different patterns of injuries in subscapularis, supra-and in-fraspinatus, teres minor and bicep tendons were noted and labelled as partial or full thickness rotator cuff tears accordingly. Results: The average age of the 96 patients was 54.72±7.46 years and average duration of pain recorded was 5.21±1.83 months. The majority of the patients were males (55-57.3%) and (41-42.3%) females. Right sided shoulder pain was observed in 64 (66.7%) cases. The most common finding was tendonitis seen in 43 (44.8%) of the cases with Subscapularis, partial thickness tear in supraspinatus involving 54 (56.3%) of the cases. Conclusion: The study findings have shown that ultrasound can detect various shoulder injuries and the most common finding in Subscapularis injury was tendonitis and partial thickness tear in supraspinatus injury.