STUDY OF FINDINGS AT SONOGRAPHY OF SUDANESE PATIENTS WITH SHOULDER PAIN.

Elfadil Faroug Abdelal Elnour, Caroline Edward Ayad* and Elsafi Ahmed Abdalla

ABSTRACT

Objective: The aims were to study the prevalence of sonographic findings in Sudanese patients with shoulder pain, as well as to correlate the findings with age and occupation. Materials and Methods: The study sample comprised 40 consecutively enrolled subjects who had shoulder pain. Ultrasound of shoulder was performed by a musculoskeletal sonologist according to a defined protocol that included imaging of the rotator cuff: tendon of the long head of the biceps brachii muscle(LHB ),subacromial-subdeltoid bursa, supra and infra spinatous as well as the teres minor. The shoulders were imaged, and the pathologic findings were recorded. Results: 29(72.5%) right and 11 (27.5%) left shoulders were imaged. The most common affected ages were between 43-52 years constituting14 (35%) of the total sample. Shoulder abnormalities were found in 100% of subjects complained of shoulder pain. The occurrence was found to be as 5(12.5%) cases of calcified tendinosis, 1(2.5%) degenerative changes,1(2.5%) (LHB) dislocation, 30 (75%) have no tendinopathy seen and 3 (7.5%) with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS). Bursa thickening with fluid was seen in 18(45%) of the cases. No tears were detected neither in teres minor nor in (LHB). A significant relationship is found between the patient’s age, occupation and the ultrasound findings at p≤0.003 and 0.019 respectively. Conclusion: With the presence of pain, we suggest that ultrasound findings should be interpreted closely with clinical findings, occupation and age to determine the cause.

Keywords: Shoulder joint, ultrasonography, pain.