Shoulder surface temperature and bone scintigraphy findings in patients with rotator cuff tears

BACKGROUND: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is one of the serious complications after surgical treatment of a rotator cuff tear. Both a measurement of body surface temperature and bone scintigraphy have been used as diagnostic tools for the early phase of CRPS.Unfortunately, few studies have been carried out that applied these methods to the patients after rotator cuff repair. PURPOSES: To clarify both shoulder surface temperature and bone scintigraphy findings in patients with rotator cuff tears. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Subjects comprised patients with unilateral rotator cuff tears (five men and five women, mean age 61 years). For measurements of shoulder surface temperature, a Thermochron was attached to both shoulders. As for bone scintigraphy, intravenous injection of technetium-labelled hydroxymethylenebisphosphonic acid (99mTc-HMDP)was performed, and then images were taken with a gamma camera. RESULTS: During the measurements, the changes in body surface temperature for the affected and healthy shoulders remained within the standard deviation of the reference group. The intensity of radioisotope (RI) uptake for the affected shoulder joint was significantly increased compared to that for the healthy shoulder joint (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: RI uptake is increased in shoulders with rotator cuff tears, whereas shoulder surface temperature shows no differences on the affected and unaffected sides.