Sh. Liu et al., DIAGNOSIS OF GLENOID LABRAL TEARS - A COMPARISON BETWEEN MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING AND CLINICAL EXAMINATIONS, American journal of sports medicine, 24(2), 1996, pp. 149-154
We studied 54 patients with shoulder pain secondary to anterior instab
ility or glenoid labral tears refractory to 6 months of conservative m
anagement with no evidence of rotator cuff lesions. All patients had s
ufficient preoperative clinical data, magnetic resonance imaging, and
shoulder arthroscopy results for analysis. The ability to predict the
presence of a glenoid labral tear by physical examination was compared
with that of magnetic resonance imaging (conventional and arthrogram)
and confirmed with arthroscopy. There were 37 men and 17 women (avera
ge age, 34 years) in the study group. Of this group, 64% were throwing
athletes and 61% recalled specific traumatic events. clinical assessm
ent included history with specific attention to pain with overhead act
ivities, clicking, and instances of shoulder instability. Physical exa
mination included the apprehension, relocation, load and shift, inferi
or sulcus sign, and crank tests. Shoulder arthroscopy confirmed labral
tears in 41 patients (76%). Magnetic resonance imaging produced a sen
sitivity of 59% and a specificity of 85%. Physical examination yielded
a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 85%. Physical examination i
s more accurate in predicting glenoid labral tears than magnetic reson
ance imaging. In this era of cost containment, completing the diagnost
ic workup in the clinic without expensive ancillary studies allows the
patient's care to proceed in the most timely and economic fashion.