Arthroscopic findings in the overhand throwing athlete: Evidence for posterior internal impingement of the rotator cuff

The purpose of this article is to describe the outcome of an arthroscopic e xamination and the pathology in symptomatic shoulders of 41 professional ov erhand throwing athletes. With the arm in the position of the relocation te st, 100% of the subjects had either contact between the rotator cuff unders urface and the posterosuperior glenoid rim or osteochondral lesions. Other key findings included undersurface cuff fraying in 93%, posterosuperior lab ral fraying in 88%, and anterior labral fraying in 36% of the subjects. Thi s study supports the concept of impingement of the posterior cuff undersurf ace with the posterosuperior glenoid rim in the overhand throwing athlete w ith shoulder pain.