Ultrasonographic clues for acuity/chronicity of rotator cuff tear

To look prospectively for ultrasonographic clues for acuity/chronicity of rotator cuff tear (RCT) among patients with shoulder pain.

Patients with shoulder pain who were referred for musculoskeletal ultrasonography and diagnosed with RCT were asked to participate in our study. After consent, demographic, clinical, laboratory, and ultrasonographic findings, including age, gender, history of trauma, type of tendon with tear, tendon tear size, tendon effusion, bursal effusion, calcification, tendon thickness, and duration of shoulder pain were documented. Shoulder pain duration of ≤2 months was considered as an acute case. Patients were divided into group 1 (with acute shoulder pain) and group 2 (patients with chronic shoulder pain; pain duration of >2 months), and the various parameters of the two groups were compared to look for significant differences between the two groups. Student's unpaired t-test and the chi-square test were used for continuous and categorical parameters, respectively.

A total of 112 patients were diagnosed with RCT, and 132 tears were documented. Sixty-three patients (~56%) were male, and the mean age of all the patients was 54.2±15.2 years. A total of 44% of the patients belonged to group 1 (with acute pain). The existence of either a subdeltoid bursal effusion (SBE) or a biceps peritendon effusion (BPE) and thick tendon were observed significantly more among patients in group 1 compared to patients in group 2.

The existence of either an SBE or a BPE and thick tendon were signs of an acute RCT.