[Painful shoulder… not only the rotator's cuff].

A painful shoulder is a frequent complaint in general practice. In this clinical vignette, we discuss the case of an elderly patient with pain and lack of strength in the right shoulder one month after a hospital stay. The diagnosis is an injury of the accessory nerve after the placement of a central venous catheter in an emergency setting. The different causes of non-orthopaedic causes of shoulder pain are reviewed with emphasis on neurological etiologies.