Quantitative Evaluation of Arthroscopic Subacromial Decompression via MRI and its Consistency with Clinical Status in Patients

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between subacromial distance measures before and after Arthroscopic Subacromial Decompression (ASD) using MRI and clinical status in patients with chronic impingement. About 44 patients with chronic impingements at stage 2 and 3 were evaluated using UCLA shoulder scale and the Constant-Murley shoulder assessment and their subacromial distances were measured using MRI before ASD. The average duration of follow-up was 30.48 months (12-49) after ASD. The same evaluations and measurements were obtained at the end of the follow-up period. The initial and final subacromial distances were different [9.23 (5-12) vs. 10.77 (6-14) mm, respectively]. The Constant-Murley shoulder assessment and UCLA shoulder scale scores also increased from 15.14-72.48 and from 8.09-30.89, respectively. The t-test confirmed statistical improvement in all these variables upon ASD (p<0.001). In conclusion, clinical remission was associated with the subacromial distance elongation in patients with chronic impingement upon ASD.