抄録
Purpose
The association of the cervical spine with periarthritis of the shoulder was considered even when there was no obvious radiculopathy observed. Hence, the following examination was performed.
Subjects
The Subjects were 74 patients who were diagnosed with periarthritis of the shoulder. They consisted of 24 men and 50 women, aged from 36 to 75 years (mean 56.1). Each patient was confirmed to be free of obvious causes of shoulder pain such as arthropathic changes, calcification and complete rotator cuff tears. Moreover, patients who had cervical pain or numbness of the upper limbs abnormalities on neurological examinations such as tendon reflex and nerve root irritation test were excluded from this study.
Methods
The anteroposterior diameter of the spinal cacal and the range of motion of the cervical spine were measured from the roentgenogram of the cervical spine. Such parameters were also measured in 54 volunteers who had no history of pain or numbness of the upper limbs(27 men and 27 women, mean age 52.9), and the values obtained were used as the control.
Results
The anteroposterior diameters of the spinal canal were narrower than these in the control group at the levels of C5, C6 and C7 (p<0.05).
The range of motion of the cervical spine tended to be less in the periarthritis group than that in the control group at the level of C2-3 (p=0.06).
Discussion
It is well known that the narrower the spinal canal, the more the disorder of the spinal cord. However we assume that even in a case with no obvious radiculopathy, the cervical apine appears to be involved in periarthritis of the shoulder. Further considerations are required.
