Contributors:
William R. Beach, MD, Mark A. Frankle, MD, Mark H. Getelman, MD, John E. (Jed) Kuhn, MD, MS, Matthew T. Provencher, MD, CPAT, MC, USNR(Ret.)
Abstract:
Surgeons have performed acromioplasty to reduce pain and prevent rotator cuff disease progression since the 1970s. However, in the past decade, a number of randomized trials have brought the appropriate use of acromioplasty into question.
Surgeons also have two concepts of the acromion to consider during diagnosis: the classic impact of the anterior acromion, classified as type I, type II and type III, and the impact of the lateral acromion and its relation to the critical shoulder angle and rotator cuff pathology, Mark H. Getelman, MD, co-director of the sports medicine fellowship at Southern California Orthopedic Institute/UCLA Health, said.
“We have further complicated our understanding of the acromion in some ways with more knowledge and now you have to make a clinical decision when you are taking care of an individual patient,” he said. “I find it is a challenging decision.”
Dr. Getelman is further quoted in the article and you may read the full article: Acromioplasty: Not a one-size-fits-all procedure