Anterior shoulder dislocation and injuries of the rotator cuff in patients aged over 40 years. Clinical and sonographic study.

A total of 39 patients with a mean age of 64 years (41 to 88) who had had anterior shoulder dislocation were followed-up an average of 2 years after trauma in order to evaluate the conditions of the rotator cuff. All of the patients were evaluated clinically, radiographically, and sonographically. Clinical evaluation revealed significant differences between the dislocated shoulders and the contralateral ones: the mean Constant score was 67 in the group with dislocated shoulders and 87 in the contralateral group. Ultrasound revealed partial injury of the cuff in 31% of cases and complete injury in 28%. Mean score was 81.4 in the group with a normal ultrasound, 67.1 in that with partial injury of the cuff, and 46.5 in that with complete injury of one or more tendons. These data confirm the high frequency of partial or complete injuries of the rotator cuff in patients aged over 40 years that have undergone anterior shoulder dislocation. Ultrasound confirms it is an excellent diagnostic method in the pathology of the rotator cuff, demonstrating good correlation with the clinical evaluation.