http://www.jbjs.org/article.aspx?articleid=35833
After reviewing close to 2500 papers on the subject of impingement syndrome of the shoulder our team at the University of Washington in Seattle found that there is lack of evidence to support that acromioplasty is superior to physical therapy for the treatment of impingement syndrome of the shoulder. In the last issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery our team under the mentorship of Dr Frederick Matsen published the results of our hypothesis based meta-analysis. We found that the tests that used for the diagnosis of this condition are not specific and there is an increasing number of acromioplasties performed in the US. Based on our metanalysis the term is impingement syndrome should be replaced with a specific diagnosis. It was originally introduced by Dr Neer who actually performed only 10 acromioplasties per year and did not have advance imaging to differentiate between tendinosis, tight posterior capsule and partial or full thickness tears of the cuff. This a Level II study and demonstrates the need to provide a specific diagnosis whenever possible. This study provides high levels of evidence to change the practice on the 2nd most common orthopaedic procedure performed in the US.
