Diagnostic Accuracy of Shoulder Ultrasound for Rotator Cuff Tear by Considering Shoulder Arthroscopy as Gold Standard

Abstract Rotator cuff disease is the leading cause of shoulder pain, and ultrasonography is widely used due to its non-invasive, cost-effective nature, though arthroscopy is considered the gold standard for diagnosis. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of high-resolution ultrasonography with arthroscopy for detecting rotator cuff tears. Fifty patients suspected of having rotator cuff tears underwent both ultrasonography and arthroscopy over a one-year period. The results showed that 57% of patients were female, 43% were male, and the most affected tendon was the supraspinatus. Ultrasonography demonstrated high accuracy, with sensitivity and specificity of 93.61% and 100% for overall rotator cuff tears. For full-thickness tears, ultrasonography's sensitivity was 93.75% and specificity 100%, but sensitivity dropped to 77.27% for partial-thickness tears. Ultrasonography showed excellent accuracy in detecting full-thickness supraspinatus tears, though its sensitivity was lower for partial-thickness and infraspinatus tears. The study concluded that high-resolution ultrasonography is highly effective for detecting full-thickness tears but less sensitive for partial-thickness tears.