[Shoulder injuries in overhead sports]

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Sports Medicine
• Radiology

Background:

• Overhead sports place significant stress on the shoulder joint.
• Shoulder pain in athletes is frequently linked to overuse injuries, microinstability, and impingement.
• Accurate diagnosis is vital for effective treatment decisions in athletes with unclear shoulder pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the biomechanical and clinical aspects of common shoulder pathologies in overhead athletes.
• To detail the magnetic resonance (MR) arthrographic features of these conditions.
• To highlight MR arthrography as the preferred imaging modality for diagnosing shoulder pain in athletes.

Main Methods:

• Review of biomechanical and clinical literature on shoulder pathologies in overhead athletes.
• Analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) arthrographic findings for common shoulder injuries.
• Focus on conditions including biceps tendinopathy, SLAP lesions, rotator cuff lesions, and impingement syndromes.

Main Results:

• Magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography is highly effective in visualizing and excluding pathologies of all relevant shoulder joint structures.
• The modality provides sufficient confidence for diagnosing conditions such as biceps tendinopathy, SLAP lesions, rotator cuff tears, and impingement.
• MR arthrography aids in differentiating between various causes of shoulder pain in overhead athletes.

Conclusions:

• Magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography is the imaging modality of choice for evaluating shoulder pain in overhead athletes.
• It enables confident diagnosis of overuse injuries, microinstability, and impingement syndromes.
• Understanding MR arthrographic features is essential for managing shoulder pathologies in this population.