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Differential Diagnosis of Shoulder Pain in Physical Therapy: An Algorithm for Clinical Reasoning

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Information Technology and Systems (ICITS 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 414))

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Abstract

Shoulder pain is a frequent cause of musculoskeletal consultation in primary care, whose etiology of non-neurological origin may include the Rotator Cuff Disorders, Subacromial impingement, Glenohumeral Instability, Long head of the biceps lesion, and SLAP. The physiotherapeutic management of this pathology, as well as its effectiveness, starts from a well-structured differential diagnosis, which is based on the clinical reasoning process. To determine the cause of shoulder pain, the literature shows innumerable tests that can be applied during the evaluation. The aim of this manuscript is to assist the therapist in defining the specific type of musculoskeletal shoulder injury from pain of non-neurological origin. A clinical reasoning algorithm is proposed to facilitate the differential diagnosis of painful shoulder pathology in physical therapy based on clinical, visual, manual, functional, and instrumental diagnosis. This tool will allow the identification of the phases of clinical reasoning in the physical therapist, to elaborate the differential diagnosis of painful shoulder pathology, providing a novel tool in their training.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Doctoral School, Ph.D. in Neurosciences, University of Les Illes Ballears, Palma, Spain

    Lucia Fernanda Flores Santy & Inmaculada Riquenme

  2. Physiotherapy Degree, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

    Lucia Fernanda Flores Santy & Wilmer Esparza

  3. School of Physiotherapy, Universidad de Las Américas, Av. 12 de Octubre 1076 and Roca, Quito, Ecuador

    Wilmer Esparza

Authors
  1. Lucia Fernanda Flores Santy
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  2. Wilmer Esparza
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  3. Inmaculada Riquenme
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lucia Fernanda Flores Santy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Álvaro Rocha

  2. Geografía, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Carlos Ferrás

  3. Tecnológico de Costa Rica, San Carlos, Costa Rica

    Abel Méndez Porras

  4. Tecnológico de Costa Rica, San Carlos, Costa Rica

    Efren Jimenez Delgado

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Flores Santy, L.F., Esparza, W., Riquenme, I. (2022). Differential Diagnosis of Shoulder Pain in Physical Therapy: An Algorithm for Clinical Reasoning. In: Rocha, Á., Ferrás, C., Méndez Porras, A., Jimenez Delgado, E. (eds) Information Technology and Systems. ICITS 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 414. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96293-7_8

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