Abstract
The shoulder is a common site of pain, and point-of-care ultrasound is a very useful tool for examining the soft tissues surrounding the shoulder to determine its cause. Used along with physical examination, it compares well with more expensive and resource-intensive imaging [1, 2]. Typically, a linear mid-frequency (3–16 Hz) probe or curvilinear (1–7 Hz) probe is used. Depending on the site of pain and the mechanism of injury, different scanning techniques may be utilized. Ultrasound examination of the anterior, lateral, superior, or posterior shoulder will be used to visualize specific structures that are suspected to be injured, torn, arthritic, or inflamed (Figs. 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, 2.11, and 2.12; Videos 2.1 and 2.2).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Levine BD, Motamedi K, Seeger LL. Imaging of the shoulder: a comparison of MRI and ultrasound. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2012;11:239–43.
Sheehan SE, Coburn JA, Singh H, Vanness DJ, Sittig DF, Moberg DP, et al. Reducing unnecessary shoulder MRI examinations within a capitated health care system: a potential role for shoulder ultrasound. J Am Coll Radiol. 2016;13(7):780.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
2.1 Electronic Supplementary Material
Movement of the glenohumeral joint can be assessed by ultrasound. This video demonstrates normal joint movement with external rotation of the humerus. A frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) occurs when adhesions restrict the normal movement of the joint (MP4 1069 kb)
An assessment for subacromial impingement of the supraspinatus tendon of the rotator cuff can be carried out with dynamic ultrasound imaging by having the patient abduct the shoulder while visualizing how the tendon slides under the acromion. This patient has normal movement with no impingement (MP4 1087 kb)
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Greenlund, L.S. (2018). Shoulder. In: Nelson, B., Topol, E., Bhagra, A., Mulvagh, S., Narula, J. (eds) Atlas of Handheld Ultrasound. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73855-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73855-0_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73853-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73855-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)