Coracoid impingement syndrome due to intensive rock climbing training

Overuse and acute injuries to the upper body are common in rock climbing. Such injuries primarily affect the fingers; but shoulder problems are increasingly common, especially among more experienced and older climbers who climb at a high ability level. Such shoulder problems are often due to subacromial impingement, shoulder dislocations with bankart lesions, hyperlaxity, SLAP lesions or irritations of the long biceps tendon. In contrast to these known conditions, we describe a case of an ambitious female rock climber who trained intensively and developed a coracoid impingement caused by hypertrophied subscapularis tendon and muscle following sport-specific training. Diagnosis was made through clinical evaluation and confirmed by magnetic resonance tomography. Coracoid impingement syndrome is a less common cause of shoulder pain and occurs when the subscapularis tendon impinges between the coracoid and the lesser tuberosity of the humerus. The patient was treated successfully with a conservative therapy and returned to full activity within 6 weeks.