In many instances , no or minimal attempts to screen were undertaken or reported .
Background Subacromial shoulder pain is a common clinical presentation with much diagnostic uncertainty .
Some of this uncertainty relates to the involvement of the cervical spine as a source or contribution to subacromial shoulder pain .
Currently , there is no accepted method of screening of the cervical spine in the presence of subacromial shoulder pain , which risks patients receiving misguided and /or ineffective interventions .
Objective To evaluate approaches used to screen the cervical spine in patients with subacromial shoulder pain .
Effects of acupuncture and placebo TENS in addition to exercise in treatment of rotator cuff tendinitis
Objective : To compare the effect of acupuncture with placebo transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation ( TENS ) when added to the exercise treatment of rotator cuff tendinitis with respect to pain , shoulder movements and function . Design : Prospect i ve alternate allocation controlled trial . Setting : Outpatient department . Patients : Thirty-three patients ( 12 women and 21 men ) were included in the study . All had clinical ly diagnosed rotator cuff tendinitis . Intervention : Both groups underwent a st and ardized training programme . Each patient received in addition either 10 treatments with acupuncture or placebo TENS , 1 - 2 times per week . Main outcome measures : The parameters investigated were intensity of pain ( measured with visual analogue scale ) , active , passive as well as functional movements in the shoulder ( h and in neck ( HIN ) and pour out of a pot ( POP ) ) . Patients were tested before treatment , after treatment and at a six-month follow-up . Medicine intake , ability to lie on the affected side and sleep disturbances were evaluated . A subjective assessment was made after the treatment and at follow-up . Results : Sixteen patients had acupuncture , 17 placebo TENS . Eight patients endured pain at rest in the placebo TENS group , and 10 in the acupuncture group . After treatment both groups improved , the improvement persisted at the six-month follow-up . Both groups increased range of movement . Except for the functional test HIN in the acupuncture group , there were no differences between the groups regarding other parameters investigated directly after treatment or at six-month follow-up . Conclusion : There is no difference between the effect of additional acupuncture treatment and placebo TENS in the treatment of rotator cuff tendinitis
In many instances , no or minimal attempts to screen were undertaken or reported .
Background Subacromial shoulder pain is a common clinical presentation with much diagnostic uncertainty .
Some of this uncertainty relates to the involvement of the cervical spine as a source or contribution to subacromial shoulder pain .
Currently , there is no accepted method of screening of the cervical spine in the presence of subacromial shoulder pain , which risks patients receiving misguided and /or ineffective interventions .
Objective To evaluate approaches used to screen the cervical spine in patients with subacromial shoulder pain .