A comparative study of the aetiological factors in shoulder pain.

Sixty patients presenting consecutively with shoulder pain to a rheumatology clinic have been studied. There was a significant association of shoulder capsulitis with diabetes mellitus and antecedent trauma when compared with supraspinatus tendonitis (SST). There were no immunological or other biochemical differences between the capsulitis and SST patients. The results suggest that patients with shoulder capsulitis should be investigated to exclude diabetes mellitus particularly when there is no history of antecedent trauma.