Acromioclavicular arthritis must be treated through a thorough examination and diagnosis

[메디컬투데이=김준수 기자] The acromioclavicular joint is the joint located at the top of the shoulder and forms when the acromion, the outermost part of the scapula, and the clavicle, a horizontal bone on the chest, meet. Acromioclavicular arthritis is a joint deformity and inflammation caused by trauma, repetitive activity, or lying on one’s side at a hard spot in the joint capsule or surrounding ligaments surrounding the acromioclavicular joint.

Damage to the acromioclavicular ligament usually occurs when the shoulder collides with the ground following a fall during strenuous exercise such as cycling or skiing, or when there is trauma to the shoulder in a car accident, etc. . Arthritis of the joint occurs. Acromioclavicular arthritis is an unknown shoulder disease compared to frozen shoulder and rotator cuff tear, but in reality the incidence rate is high enough to account for approximately 10% of patients with shoulder disease.

Aside from damage to the acromioclavicular joint, symptoms of acromioclavicular arthritis include pain in a specific location over the shoulder (acromion), especially in the acromion when the arm is raised straight up, and pain in the acromion that gets worse when lying down on the painful side while sleeping or after waking it gets worse

When the acromioclavicular joint is severely affected and the clavicle is dislocated, it is not difficult to diagnose acromioclavicular joint disease by checking for shoulder bruising or deformity, it is necessary to differentiate it from other diseases.

In this regard, Hong Han-pyo, director of the joint center of Seojaegon Linker Hospital, said, “AC arthritis can occur simultaneously due to trauma, fitness, movement or uncomfortable sleeping habits, such as rupture of the cuff of the rotators and subscapularis rupture. They often waste time and effort,” she said. “You need to be examined and examined, and because they are similar to shoulder symptoms caused by other causes, an accurate diagnosis is the most important for treatment.”

If arthritis symptoms are not severe, medications, injection therapy, physical therapy, lifestyle improvements (avoid sleeping on side, use a padded bed, do not work for long periods with raised arms, shoulder blade pain when raise their arms overhead) May be improved by conservative treatment such as limiting excessive exercise by the patient. Surgical treatment is performed when dislocation and dislocation due to trauma are severe, when fractures are accompanied and, in the case of acromioclavicular arthritis, when degenerative changes are severe, when there is no response to consistent conservative treatment for more 3 months old and young patients who like to exercise It is considered to implement it to those who have work intensity. With the arthroscopic method, the resection arthroplasty of the acromioclavicular joint is performed with a minimal incision and it is possible to return to daily life immediately after surgery without the need for braces.

Medical Today reporter Kim Junsu ([email protected])

[저작권자ⓒ 메디컬투데이. 무단전재-재배포 금지]