[Etiology and diagnosis of chronic shoulder pain]

Shoulder pain of more than three months' duration is regarded as chronic. Activity with an elevated arm is a risk factor, due to reduced local flow of blood to the supraspinatus muscle. Knowledge about normal shoulder biomechanics and dysfunctional behaviour patterns is essential when treating patients with chronic pain. It is necessary to consider psychosocial factors in addition to local pathology. The clinical examination should enable the physician to distinguish between referred and true shoulder pain and between restricted and free passive range of movement. Diagnoses may be classified into eight groups. The association between pain and degenerative changes has yet to be solved. This emphasizes the danger of deciding treatment without matching findings from radiological examinations with clinical signs and symptoms.