Abstract
PurposeShoulder pain and weakness are common symptoms in athletes who play sports connected with overhead throwing. Suprascapular neuropathy may be one of the reason of such signs.The aim of the study was to find out if ultrasound examination of the shoulder in athletes reveals signs of suprascapular neuropathy.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study in which 67 professional volleyball, handball and rugby players of polish teams without shoulder disorders, which have played sport for 10 or more years, were included. An ultrasound examination of both shoulders was performed. Excluding criteria were recent shoulder and/or neck trauma and neurological disorders.ResultsNo ultrasound signs of suprascapular neuropathy were seen in any player. The only finding was enthesopathy of supraspinatus muscle and this finding was connected with athletes’ age, type of sport and with dominant hand. It had statistical significance with p-value respectively 0.01 for athletes’ age, 0.0208 for sport type and 0.03 for dominant hand.ConclusionsUltrasonography should not be used as the screening examination of shoulders in athletes, but it can sometimes be an additional tool to help to diagnose shoulder disorders.
Highlights
Shoulder pain and weakness are common symptoms in athletes who play sports connected with overhead throwing
The only finding was enthesopathy of supraspinatus muscle
Suprascapular neuropathy is a rare neuropathy, it is a common manifestation after injuries of the peripheral branches of the brachial plexus, especially in athletes such as volleyball players, or in sports requiring throwing with the upper limb set above the level of the shoulder, e.g. handball players or rugby players
Summary
Suprascapular neuropathy may be one of the reason of such signs.The aim of the study was to find out if ultrasound examination of the shoulder in athletes reveals signs of suprascapular neuropathy. The aim of the study was to perform ultrasound examination of the shoulder to check the signs of suprascapular neurpathy in high-performance volleyball, handball and rugby players
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have