Introduction

The shoulder joint is a ball and socket joint without any fixed axis of rotation, which has a wide range of motion in multiple planes; hence stability is compromised for mobility. To compensate for the unstable bony anatomy the shoulder is protected anteriorly, posteriorly and superiorly by a capsule and the tendons that form the rotator cuff. The tendon is subject to “wear and tear” during the day to day activities. Spectrum of etiologies that can give rise to shoulder pain are acute trauma to a gamut of degenerative disorders associated with impingement syndrome. Shoulder pain is one of the most common complaints encountered in orthopedic practice and often leads to considerable disability. There are various causes of a painful shoulder, but periarticular soft tissue lesions involving tendons and bursae are the most common and are often associated with chronic impingement of the rotator cuff on the anterolateral margin of the acromion. Even though a large amount of clinical tests used for the diagnosis of painful shoulder are considered accurate in determining the location of the periarticular lesions, these entities may be difficult to differentiate by physical examination. Clinical diagnosis have low accuracy in comparison with arthroscopy^[1][3].

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Dr Basanta Manjari Swain

Associate Professor, Dept. of Radiodiagnosis, SCB Medical College

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