회전근개 파열
What is a rotator cuff tear?
The rotator cuff is made up of four tendons that wrap around the shoulder (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor) and act as one. In this condition the rotator cuff degenerates and tears because of tendon aging, trauma or other causes, producing swelling, pain and impaired movement. Degenerative change in the shoulder tendons, vigorous activity, occupations that make heavy use of the shoulder, and sports that strain the shoulder such as tennis, golf, badminton and table tennis can all be cited as causes of rotator cuff tear.
Symptoms
- 1
- The pain is worse at night, making it hard to fall asleep, and turning onto the painful side makes it worse still.
- 2
- Women find it hard to unfasten a bra strap or raise a hand behind the back.
- 3
- Muscle atrophy makes the back of the shoulder look sunken.
- 4
- Rotating the shoulder makes a grinding sound.
- 5
- Pain appears when raising the arm, but may disappear once the arm is fully raised.
- 6
- In severe cases the strength to raise the arm weakens, and the raised arm may suddenly drop.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Diagnosis is based on pain when the affected area is pressed, whether pain occurs when the joint is moved in particular directions, the degree to which symptoms decrease after a local anesthetic is injected into the bursa, and X-ray findings. If an abnormality is found, a 3.0T MRI is used to assess damage to the bursa and the rotator cuff.
Along with self-directed exercise to relieve shoulder pain and restore joint motion, symptoms are treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics, intra-articular steroid injections, intra-articular lubricant injections and PDRN (DNA) injection therapy.
If symptoms do not improve with non-surgical treatment, or if inflammation of the joint capsule progresses and damages the joint so severely that daily life is restricted, a detailed examination using joint endoscopy is performed together with surgery to release the joint capsule.