Suprascapular nerve entrapment in a patient with a spinal cord injury.
METHODS
Case report.


OBJECTIVE
To describe a case of suprascapular nerve entrapment (SNE) in a patient with a spinal cord injury (SCI) as a cause of shoulder pain.


METHODS
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute, Nancy, France.


METHODS
Six months after the occurrence of acute paraplegia T9 ASIA, a 45-year-old man complained of pain in the posterior and lateral areas of the left shoulder. A clinical assessment found an atrophy of the infraspinatus muscle and a muscular weakness during external shoulder rotation. SNE was suggested as a cause of pain and confirmed by nerve conduction recording. Magnetic resonance imaging excluded any compressive cyst. SNE at the spinoglenoid notch, related to upper limb overuse, was suggested. A gluco-corticoid injection in the proximity of the suprascapular nerve eliminated the pain in a few hours. Two months after the injection, the pain had not reappeared, the infraspinatus muscle atrophy was resolved, and supraspinal nerve conduction was normalized.


CONCLUSIONS
Shoulder pain is common in individuals with paraplegia, but this is the first time that SNE has been reported as a cause of pain. This micro-traumatic pathology, well known in athletes, is probably under-diagnosed in patients with SCI who overuse their upper limbs for wheelchair propulsion and body transfers.
Facione
J
J
Institut Régional de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation, Nancy, France.
Beis
J M
JM
Kpadonou
G T
GT
Lagauche
D
D
Touillet
A
A
Braun
M
M
Le Chapelain
L
L
Paysant
J
J
D012090:Cumulative Trauma Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000209:etiology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*