The Shoulder

Usually there is not much pain which contrasts with the marked functional loss.

Discrepancy between a full and almost painless passive elevation of the shoulder and an almost completely loss of active elevation.

There is no active abduction movement in the scapulohumeral joint; elevation is only performed by a swing of the scapula.


The failure in the supraspinatus allows the humerus to protrude upwards through the defect, creating a type of 'boutonniére' lesion. Contraction of subscapularis and infraspinatus accentuate the subluxation.	Radiograph reveals the upward displacement of the humeral head with marked narrowing between head and acromion.