A supraspinatus tear is a tear or rupture of the tendon of the supraspinatus muscle. The supraspinatus is part of the rotator cuff of the shoulder. please comment thank you ....

1. PREPARED BY
MARTIN SHAJI
PHARM D
🔈 SUPRASPINATUS
TEAR-
medical information.

2. Introduction
A supraspinatus tear is a tear or rupture of the tendon of the
supraspinatus muscle. The supraspinatus is part of the rotator cuff of
the shoulder. The rotator cuff consists of Supraspinatus,
Infraspinatus, Subscapularis and Teres minor.
Most of the time it is accompanied with another rotator cuff muscle
tear. This tear can occur in 2 ways.
Due To A Trauma Or
Due Repeated Micro-trauma

3. The supraspinatus tear can be partial or full thickness tear. A
partial tear means that the soft tissue (the muscle fibers) will
not be completely disrupted. A complete tear on the other hand
means that all the muscle fibers are disrupted. It is common
that disrupted tendons begin by fraying and when the damage
progresses the partial tear evolves into a complete tear. Most of
the time the tear occurs in the tendon or as an avulsion from
the greater tuberosity. The supraspinatus muscle is responsible
for the abduction of the upper limb.

5. There are several factors that contribute to degenerative or chronic
tears.
• Repetitive stress
• Lack of blood supply
• Bone spurs (bone overgrowth)

6. RISK FACTORS
• Older than 40 years old have a greater risk
• Body Mass Index
• Height
• Repetitive Lifting

7. • Overhead Activities and other people who do overhead work have a
greater risk:
• Tennis Players
• Baseball Pitchers
• Painters
• Carpenters
• Plumbers
• Traumatic Injury e.g. a fall, more common cause in younger
individuals

8. So we can conclude that rotator cuff tears are associated with
older patients, a history of trauma and affected the dominant
arm. Patients have also a reduced forward elevation, external
rotation and abduction. The most common risk factors for a
tear consist of a history of trauma, dominant arm and age.

9. Some of the Symptoms of a
Supraspinatus Rupture are:
• Excruciating pain in shoulders
• Severe pain in the shoulder with rotation of the arms
• Severe pain in the shoulders when moving the arms sideways

10. A clinical diagnosis of your shoulder will include questions about
how long you have had the pain for, whether there are certain
movements that make the pain worse, and whether you have had
similar problems in the past.
It can be difficult to diagnose a supraspinatus tear because there
are many other conditions with similar symptoms, including other
types of shoulder tear in the rotator cuff, SLAP tear, or
inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.
Diagnosis

11. In addition to an examination, the GP may recommend:
X-rays – to exclude conditions such as sclerosis
Ultrasound – to quickly view the tendons in your shoulder and
compare them to your other shoulder
MRI – to show the tendon and detect any tears or inflammation.

12. TREATMENT FOR SUPRASPINATUS
RUPTURE
Supraspinatus Ruptures can be treated both surgically as well as
conservatively.
In cases if the rupture is pretty small, then conservative management
with physical therapy is the best route to go. Physical therapy is also
used for individuals with extremely large tears which cannot be
repaired via surgery. Conservative option is best for people who want
to prolong or even if possible avoid surgical procedure due to the
prolonged recovery phase postprocedure.

13. If conservative treatments fail to provide adequate relief of
symptoms, then surgery is the route to go but the success of the
surgery depends on the extent of the tear and the condition of the
muscles. The surgical procedure is done using arthroscopic
technique in which an arthroscope which is an instrument with a
miniature camera attached to it is inserted in the shoulder via
small incisions and the internal structures are observed to look for
damage and once identified the damage is repaired. Postsurgery,
the tendon will take up to four months to completely heal.

14. To increase range of motion one can use stretching exercises of
the ruptured muscle (not too soon in recovery since premature
stretching might aggravate the injury), passive- and active range
of motion exercises such as pendulum exercises and symptom
limited active-assisted range of motion exercises. To increase
control and strength the patient will also be prescribed
strengthening exercises for the rotator cuff specifically the
functions of the supraspinatus muscle (abduction and
exorotation) and external rotation

15. medication may include pain-relief and anti-
inflammatory drugs to reduce swelling in the shoulder
physical therapy involves advice on exercises to carry
out which restore flexibility and strength to your shoulder.
This is a common form of treatment, both for minor
shoulder injuries and for patients recovering from shoulder
surgery.
steroid injections are sometimes recommended to
provide short-term pain relief if medication hasn’t worked

16. surgery may be considered if the tendon has been
badly torn and unlikely to heal on its own. Surgery
might involve reattaching the tendon to the born, or
transferring a nearby tendon to replace the
damaged one. In extreme cases, surgery might
involve replacing the shoulder joint.