Article

OBJECTIVES: To describe a case of suprascapular nerve
entrapment (SNE) in a patient with a spinal cord injury (SCI) as a cause of
shoulder pain. SETTING: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute, Nancy,
France. REPORT: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.

Langue : ANGLAIS