Bursitis Shoulder - Glossary

Tendonitis/tendinitis: Inflammation of the tendon.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: Medications that are not cortisone related; used to reduce inflammation.

MRI: A sophisticated test that provides in-depth images of organs and structures in the body.

Ultrasonography: A procedure in which sound waves (called ultrasound) are bounced off tissues and the echoes are converted to a picture (sonogram).

Hawkins' Kennedy test: The patient's arm is raised forward to 90 degrees while forcibly internally rotating the shoulder. If this causes pain then the test is said to be positive.

Neer test: A clinical assessment to identify impingement of the rotator cuff tendons beneath the acromion. With the elbow extended, thepatient's humerus is placed in internal rotation,and the forearm is pronated. The glenohumeral joint is then passively forced through forward flexion as the scapula is stabilized. The test is positive if the patient experiences pain in the anterior or lateralshoulder, typically above 90 degree.

Painful shoulder arc test: Pain on elevating arm and tenderness on deep pressure over the supraspinatus tendon; due to pressure of an injured or inflamed tendon or inflamed subacromial bursa coming into contact with the overlying acromial process when the arm is elevated over the shoulder level.

Apprehension test: The arm is abducted to 90° and rotated externally. With continued external rotation, the patient with an unstable shoulder expresses fear of dislocation.