Shoulder Ultrasound Abnormalities, Physical Examination Findings, and Pain in Manual Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury
By Brose, Steven W.; Boninger, Michael L.; Fullerton, Bradley; McCann, Thane; Collinger, Jennifer L.; Impink, Bradley G.; Dyson-Hudson, Trevor A.; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 89, No. 11, pp. 2086-2093Publication Date: November 2008
Study investigated shoulder ultrasound (US) abnormalities, physical examination (PE) findings, and pain in manual-wheelchair users with spinal-cord injury (SCI). A convenience sample of 49 manual-wheelchair users with SCI participating in the National Veterans’ Wheelchair Games was recruited for the study. Participants, all but one of whom were male, ranged in age between 18 and 65 years. Median participant duration of SCI was 15.9 years. Participants completed the WUSPI questionnaire providing a personal estimate of shoulder pain experienced during various activities. A quantitative Physical Examination of the Shoulder Scale (PESS) score was obtained during PE of participants which included commonly used PE maneuvers for shoulder pathology. Each participant also had US evaluation of a single shoulder, using a quantitative Ultrasound Shoulder Pathology Rating Scale (USPRS). Test results showed that the USPRS correlated with age, duration of SCI and weight and showed a positive trend with the WUSPI score. The PESS score correlated with the WUSPI and duration of SCI. The presence of untreated shoulder pain that curtailed activity was noted in 24.5 percent of participants, and this was related to increased WUSPI scores. The study concludes that PE and US abnormalities are common in manual wheelchair users with SCI, as is untreated shoulder pain, which warrants further investigation. The USPRS and PESS demonstrated evidence for external validity and were deemed to hold promise as research tools. Study limitations and implications for further research are discussed.
Published by: W.B. Saunders Company, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences (Website:http://us.elsevierhealth.com)
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Web Site: http://www.aapmr.org/ )
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.acrm.org )
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J55464
