Painful and painless shoulder magnetic resonance imaging comparisons in hemodialysis patients and correlation with clinical findings.

Background: Shoulder pain is frequently observed in haemodialysis patients.

Objective: To compare haemodialysis patients with or without shoulder pain in terms of shoulder motion ranges, β2 microglobulin levels and magnetic resonance imaging findings.

Methods: Forty-three patients undergoing dialysis were enrolled, of which 23 patients had explicit shoulder pain at night, which appeared during dialysis. Range of joint motion and impingement tests were evaluated. β 2 microglobulin value was recorded. MRI was used to evaluate rotator cuff tendons for thickness, homogeneity, integrity and presence of effusion.

Results: Ranges of motion were significantly lower in the painful shoulder group. Supraspinatus tendon thickness and the number of areas with effusion were higher in the painful group. There was a positive correlation between the β 2 microglobulin level and supraspinatus (r:0.352 p< 0.05) and subscapular (r:0.454 p< 0.05) tendon thicknesses. While effusion areas and pain (r:0.351 p< 0.05) showed positive correlation, there was a negative correlation between pain and shoulder motion ranges.

Conclusions: Shoulder pain in dialysis patients can be related with tendon thickness and effusion. While the β 2 microglobulin level affects tendon thickness, it has no relation to pain and movement constraint.