Subacromial decompression for shoulder impingement syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate the results in a consecutive series of patients who underwent subacromial decompression for shoulder impingement syndrome.

Design: Interventional quasi experimental study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Orthopaedic Department at St Mary s Hospital, Isle of Wight Healthcare England from May 1999 to August 2001.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-five consecutive shoulders from 22 patients who underwent subacromial decompression for shoulder impingement syndrome were studied. Nineteen out of 25 shoulders were in stage I or II and 6 had stage III disease, having rotator cuff tear. All patients had a median 10 months course of conservative treatment before surgery. Patients were followed-up for 6 to 24 months postoperatively and assessed by clinical examination and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder rating scale. Results were analysed by Wilcoxon s non-parametric test for internal comparison.

Results: The differences in pre- and postoperative scores for pain, function, active forward flexion, strength of forward flexion and overall patient satisfaction were improved with p-values < 0.01 in for each. This was an overall improvement in 88% cases.

Conclusion: Subacromial decompression is an effective treatment for shoulder impingement syndrome. Accurate diagnosis, careful patient selection and appropriate surgical intervention results in a successful outcome and return to normal activities in majority of patients.