This study aimed to compare the characteristics of breast cancer surgery and shoulder surgery patients on the shoulder range of motion (ROM), degree of pain and dysfunction, and scapular position. This study was carried out with a total of 90 women: a breast cancer surgery group (BS, n1=30), a shoulder surgery group (SS, n2=30) and a control group (n3=30). Shoulder ROM, the Quadruple Visual Analogue Scale (QVAS), the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), and the Scapular Index (SI) were used to assess shoulder function. Statistical analyses were performed using a one-way analysis of variance, crosstab test, and independent sample t-test. Post-hoc testing was carried out with Bonferroni test. There were significant differences in shoulder ROM when the BS and the SS were compared with the control group. However, there was no significant difference in ROM between the BS and SS. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in shoulder pain between both surgery groups, and there was greater shoulder dysfunction in the SS than in the BS. There was also a significant difference in upper extremity posture when the BS and the SS were compared to the control group. Finally, there was no significant difference in upper extremity posture between the BS and the SS. This study compared shoulder ROM, pain, dysfunction, and upper extremity postures between the BS and SS. While there were no significant differences in shoulder ROM, pain, and upper extremity posture between both surgery groups, the level of dysfunction was found to be significantly different. Therefore, health professionals managing for breast cancer surgery or shoulder surgery patients should consider these outcomes.

This study aimed to determine the usefulness of classifying patients with neck pain on the basis of the results of passive scapular elevation test. We classified 21 patients with neck pain into positive (n=12) and negative (n=9) groups on the basis of passive scapular elevation test; the 2 groups then equally performed scapular stabilization exercise program for 30 min, 3 times a week, for 4 weeks. Visual analogue scale (VAS), neck disability index (NDI), and range of motion (ROM) were recorded both before and after the intervention for both groups. Paired t-test was used to determine that there were significant changes between before and after the intervention, and independent t-test was used for analyzing changes between two groups of dependent variables. After 4 weeks of training, we observed significant decrease in pain and disability (p<.05) and a significant increase in rotation, flexion, extension, and side-bending ROM (p<.05) in both groups. Further, between pre- and post-intervention evaluations, we observed a significant decrease in pain and disability and a significant increase in rotation and flexion ROM in the positive group than in the negative group (p<.05). These results indicate that passive scapular elevation test may be used to identify mechanical disorders of the cervicoscapular muscle in patients with neck pain. Therefore, we recommend the use of passive scapular elevation test to determine appropriate treatment intervention when treating patients with neck pain.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the most effective and comprehensible method for the assessment of resting scapular position (RSP) and pain level (PL) in unilateral shoulder pain (USP). Fifty volunteers with USP were involved in the study. Resting scapular assessments of the patients' pain sides (PS) and non-pain sides (NPS) were evaluated. The assessment tools for RSP are: 1) sternal notch (SN) to coracoid process (CP) distance 2) 3rd thoracic spinous process (T3S) to posterolateral angle of acromion (PLA) distance 3) scapular index 4) 8th thoracic spinous process (T8S) to inferior angle of scapular (IAS) distance 5) supine measurement of pectoralis minor (PM) distance 6) standing PM distance 7) PM index (PMI) and 8) PM pain. The paired t-test was used to compare PS and NPS in RSP. Pearson correlation analysis was used to confer a relationship between the PL and RSP. The results of this study indicated that: 1) all the variables between the PS and NPS for RSP were statistically significant(p<.05) and 2) the PMI showed the strongest relationship in the correlation analysis between RSP and PL(p<.05, r=.37). Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a relationship between PMI and PL and it is suggested that an assessment tool using PMI to diagnose shoulder pain would be clinically effective.

This study was conducted to find the effects of scapular taping on muscle activities of the scapular rotators and upper trapezius pain in subjects with upper trapezius pain. Fifteen male subjects were recruited from Yonsei University for this study. Muscle activity of upper trapezius, lower trapezius, and serratus anterior was measured using surface electromyography. Visual analog scale was used for measuring upper trapezius pain. The subjects were asked to maintain shoulder flexion position with holding a 1 kg dumbbell in standing position. Scapular taping was applied over the muscle belly of the upper trapezius and attached parallel with the lower trapezius muscle fibers. For normalization, % maximal voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC) was conducted. Paired t-test was applied to compare the muscle activities of scapular rotator and upper trapezius pain before and after applying the scapular taping. The muscle activity of the upper trapezius muscle and serratus anterior decreased significantly after tape application (p<.05). However, no significant difference was observed in lower trapezius muscle. The level of pain in the upper trapezius muscle significantly decreased after tape application (p<.05). The results of this study suggest that scapular taping can be used an additional therapy for reducing muscle activity of upper trapezius, serratus anterior and upper trapezius pain during shoulder flexion in patient with upper trapezius pain.

This study was carried out to compare the muscle activities of the shoulder stabilizers between persons with and without winging scapular during push-up plus exercise (adds the scapular protraction to the general push-up exercise). For this study, eleven males with winging scapular and eleven healthy males were recruited. Surface electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded from the serratus anterior, upper trapezius, lower trapezius, infraspinatus, and pectoralis major while the subjects performed the push-up plus. Each push-up plus was subdivided into three phases according to the elbow position which was measured using the 3-D motion analysis system: elbow flexion (EF), elbow extension (EE), and shoulder protraction phases (SP). Two-way repeated measure ANOVA (phase group) were used for statistical analysis. There was significant phase by group interaction only on the EMG composition ratio of the serratus anterior (p>.05). The EMG composition ratio of the serratus anterior was significantly higher in SP than in either EF or EE however, it was not different between winging scapular and normal groups. For both groups, the EMG composition ratio of upper trapezius, lower trapezius, and pectoralis major was significantly different across the phases of push-up plus, but the infraspinatus EMG composition ratio was not. For both groups, in EF and EE phases, the EMG composition ratio of both pectoralis major and serratus anterior were relatively higher than that of other muscles. However, in both groups, the EMG composition ratio of the serratus anterior became much more predominant than that of the pectoralis major. In addition, infraspinatus activated greater than pectoralis major. These results showed that the push-up plus exercise is effective to selectively strengthen the serratus anterior for both individuals with and without winging scapular, but not equally effective for other shoulder stabilizers.

견갑골의 골절 유․무와 외상에 의한 탈구를 진단하는데 있어 견갑골의 정측면상의 영상을 얻는 것이 매우 중요하 다. 본 연구의 목적은 견갑골 측방향 촬영시 한국인 성인을 대상으로 견갑골의 정측면상을 얻는데 가장 적합한 회전 각도를 알아보는데 있다. 견갑골의 촬영을 위해 내원한 환자 20명(여 8명)을 대상으로 하였고 이들의 평균연령은 35.4 세(15세부터 66세)였다. 수동각도기의 거상각도를 30°, 40°, 45°로 하여 전 후방향 촬영하였다. 영상의 평가는 전문가 5명이 내측연과 외측연의 완전겹침이 있는 영상은 4점, 내측연과 외측연이 불완전 겹침이 있는 영상은 3점, 견갑골체 내측연과 외측연이 겹침이 없는 영상은 2점, 내측연과 외측연이 사방향으로 나타난 영상은 1점으로 4단계로 나누어 blind test를 하여 평가하였다. 평가한 각도별 평균점수는 30°가 1.53±0.39점, 40°가 3.83±0.15점, 45°가 2.17±0.43 점으로 나타났다. 또한 가 슴둘레가 100cm이상인 군과 100cm이하인 군 간에는 유의한 차이가(p<0. 05) 없었고, 남자와 여자 간에도 역시 유의 한 차이가 없는 것으로 나타났다. 지금까지 견갑골 정측면상을 얻는데 적합한 환자의 회전각도에 관한 연구가 없었으 나, 본 연구를 통해 검사측을 40° 회전하며 검사측 상완골을 반대쪽으로 들며 촬영하는 것이 한국인 성인에서 견갑골 의 정측면상을 얻는데 가장 적합하다는 결론을 얻었다. 본 연구 결과는 향후 견갑골의 측방향 촬영을 하는데 유용할 것으로 사료된다.