CC BY-NC-ND-license · Joints 2014; 02(03): 130-136
DOI: 10.11138/jts/2014.2.3.130
Original Article
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Calcific tendinitis of the shoulder

Angelo De Carli
1   II Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, “Sapienza” University of Rome, S. Andrea University Hospital, Rome, Italy
,
Ferdinando Pulcinelli
1   II Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, “Sapienza” University of Rome, S. Andrea University Hospital, Rome, Italy
,
Giacomo Delle Rose
2   Shoulder and Elbow Unit, Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
,
Dario Pitino
3   Department of Orthopaedics, University of Catania, Vittorio Emanuele Hospital, Catania, Italy
,
Andrea Ferretti
1   II Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, “Sapienza” University of Rome, S. Andrea University Hospital, Rome, Italy
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
19 September 2017 (online)

Abstract

Calcific tendinitis is a common disease that predominantly affects individuals aged between 40 and 60 years. Women seem to be more affected than men. Various factors have been suggested to play a role in this condition, such as abnormal activity of the thyroid gland, metabolic diseases (e.g. diabetes), and genetic predisposition. Various etiological hypotheses have been advanced: the degenerative and multiphasic theories are the two most accredited ones. Clinically, calcific tendinitis is characterized by severe, disabling pain which occurs spontaneously, usually in the morning. There can be concomitant stiffness, giving rise to a frozen shoulder-like clinical picture. Conventional radiography of the shoulder is the most appropriate imaging approach. Most cases resolve spontaneously. Many conservative treatments have been reported in the literature, showing varying levels of evidence of efficacy. Arthroscopic surgery is the orthopedic specialist’s last option. It is to be noted that post-surgical pain can persist for many weeks after the operation. Finally, it is important not to forget the variant characterized by osteolytic involvement of the greater tuberosity, which has been associated with a worse clinical outcome, both after conservative treatment and after surgery.