Ambulatory Series: Shoulder Pain

Host/Editor: Dr. Alla Turshudzhyan, Chief Medical Resident at UCONN. Working up shoulder pain can be deceivingly simple - you have to consider traumatic vs non-traumatic, extrinsic vs intrinsic shoulder pathology, and glenohumeral vs extra-glenohumeral pathology. Further diagnostic imaging should be guided by history, physical exam, and special tests. Consider ordering an US if your facility offers one as its diagnostic value is similar to MRI when assessing muscles and tendons around the shoulder. Make sure to refer your younger patients with acute rotator cuff tears for a surgical evaluation within 8 weeks of the symptom onset. Partial rotator cuff tears, complete tears under 1 cm or chronic degenerative tears should be managed conservatively while complete tears over 1 cm should be referred to orthopedic surgery for management. Thank you for listening.