How Can We Treat Calcific Tendinitis of the Shoulder?

Calcific tendinitis, which occurs especially in the shoulder area, is a representative disease that causes shoulder pain due to single or multiple calcium deposits in the rotator cuff tendon or subacromial bursa.In most cases, this disease improves naturally and can be managed with conservative treatment, but some patients continue to experience shoulder pain for a long time without any signs of the deposits resolving.In such cases, new conservative treatment methods such as barbotage and extracorporeal shock wave therapy have emerged as additional management options in recent years.Here, we discuss the classification of calcific tendinitis and the appropriate treatment strategies according to the status of the calcific deposits.(Clinical Pain 2024;