Abstract:

Objective: Subacromial Impingement syndrome (SIS) is a common cause of shoulder pain due to compression of rotator cuff muscles. We aimed to compare preoperative and postoperative functional and radiological features after arthroscopic decompression in patients with SIS. Materials and Methods: Forty patients (22 male/18 female) with mean age of 49 (21-76) undergone arthroscopic decompression for SIS. The mean follow-up length was 12 months. Before and after the surgery functional and radiological evaluations were performed. Constant shoulder scoring technique was used for evaluating the shoulder functions. The subacromial distance was measured on the sagittal magnetic resonance imaging sections. In addition, preoperative and postoperative Constant shoulder scores of 15 (37.5%) patients with a history of preoperative trauma and 14 (35%) patients with chronic disease were compared separately with the other patients. Results: Neer and Hawkins tests were positive in 39 (97.5%) patients preoperatively and only 2 (5%) patients had positive results postoperatively. The median score of the preoperative subacromial distance was 9.3 (8.6-9.8) while the median score was 10.9 (9.9-11.8) in the postoperative measurements. The preoperative median value of the Constant shoulder score in all the patients was 11.5 (5-21) and the postoperative median value was 80 (61.25-85.5). While 36 (90%) patients had night-time pain preoperatively, no patients had postoperatively. These values were significantly decreased after surgery (p<0.001). Preoperative postoperative Constant shoulder scores of 15 (37.5%) patients going through preoperative trauma and 14 (35%) patients with chronic disease were not significantly different compared to the other patients. Conclusion: Arthroscopic decompression is effective and safe in the treatment of stage 2 and 3 SIS. The subacromial distance should be recognized as an important criterion while managing SIS. Previous history of a chronic disease or trauma does not affect the outcome of the treatment in the patients suffering from SIS.

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