Shoulder and Elbow Flashcards
Red flags: Osteosarcoma (bone cancer)
- Bone pain
- Constant pain or more severity at night
- Swelling/mass/deformity
- Stiffness in the joint
- Fatigue
Red flag: Acute rotator cuff tear
- Usually following trauma
- Pain and weakness
- Sudden loss of ability to raise arm
Red flag: Polymyalgia Rhumatica (an inflammatory disorder)
- Pain and stiffness in neck/shoulder/PGP
Red flag: Giant cell arteritis (inflammation of blood vessels in the brain)
- Tenderness on scalp
- Headaches
- Painful jaw
- Previous history
- 20% of PMR develop GCA
Red flag: AVN of humeral head
- Pain which increases overtime
- Stiffness
Red flag: DVT in upper limb
- Swelling
- Pain
- Visible collateral veins at shoulder girdle
Red flag: Loosening/Infection of shoulder arthoplasty
- Red, hot swollen joint/wound
- Feeling generally unwell
- Signs of sepsis
- Fatigue
- New onset shoulder pain
- Feeling of instability/giving way/dislocation
- History of shoulder replacement
Glenohumeral joint instability: pathophysiology and risk factors
Abnormal movement of the humeral head in the gleniod fossa.
This can be anterior, posterior or multidirectional dislocation.
Can be traumatic or atraumatic
Can result in subluxation or dislocation
Stanmore classification (Jaggi and lambert 2010)
Polar 1- evidence of trauma
Polar 2- atraumatic structural instability
Polar 3- Muscle patterning- no structural deformity just abnormal coordination
Risk factors:
- Age
- Hypermobility
- Male gender
- Participation in collision sports
- Occupations involving upper limb motion above chest height
Signs and symptoms of instability
- Clicking
- Pain
- Subacromial or internal impingement signs
- Increased joint accessory motion
Anterior: increased translation anteriorly
Posterior: increased translation posteriorly
Multidirectional: increased translation in combination of directions
Frozen shoulder: pathophysiology and risk factors
Inflammation of the joint capsule.
The capsule becomes scarred and tightens therefore increasing stiffness and pain in the shoulder
Stage 1- freezing stage (painful) 2-9
- Stage 2- frozen (pain subsides, progressive loss of ROM) 4-12
- Stage 3- thawing (gradual improvement of ROM) 12 +
Risk factors:
- Female
- Over age of 40
- Prolonged immobilization
- After trauma
- Diabetes
Signs and symptoms of frozen shoulder
- Progressive restriction to both activr and passive movement
- Don’t tend to have crepitus (more OA of GHJ)
- Movement restriction in capsular pattern: external rot then flexion then internal rot
- Gradual onset
Management of instability
If traumatic: require ortho review
After relocation or atraumatic:
- Education on condition, symptom management and self management
- Direct to GP
- Physio for mobility, shoulder strengthening and proprioception
Consider referral to ortho if:
- No improvements with physio
- Recurrent dislocations
- Impacting on the person
Management of frozen shoulder
- Education and reassurance than it can take months to years to resolve
- Advise to modify activities
- Direct to GP for pain meds
- Explain that i will be painful, can affect sleep and stiffness may worsen
If symptoms don’t resolve:
- Physio: stretching, manual therapy, acupunture
- Corticosteriod injection
- Surgical management for capsular release
Research for frozen shoulder
The following interventions are suitable for primary care:
NSAIDs
Injection
Home exercise programmes- pain relieving for stage 1 and mobilisations for stage 2
Supervised manual therapy
Vivek Pandey
Glenohumeral and Acromioclavicular OA: pathophysiology and risk factors
Degenerative joint disease or inflammation of a bony joint
When cartilage or other tissues about a joint have been broken down
Risk factors:
- Age
- Obesity
- Glenohumeral instability
- Lifting heavy objects/weights (occupation)
- Chronic alcholism
- Overhead sports
Signs and symptoms of GHJ and ACJ OA
- Pin point pain
- Aggr by activities
- Reduced ROM
- Crepitus
- Difficulty in ADLs: lifting arm
- Progression of symptoms overtime