The Prevalence of Chronic Impingement Syndrome and SLAP Lesion and the Sensitivity of O’Brien’s Test

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of SLAP lesions in patients with chronic impingement syndrome. We also examined the sensitivity of O’Brien’s test.Materials and Methods: The study included 48 patients with a preliminary chronic impingement syndrome diagnosis to whom arthroscopic decompression had been planned. All patients underwent preoperative Neer’s, Hawkins’ and O’Brien’s tests. We performed shoulder arthroscopy on all patients and evaluated chronic impingement syndrome and SLAP lesions. Then, we compared the statistical sensitivities of these tests.Results: The mean age of patients with chronic impingement was 45.8 years (range, 35-69 years). O’brien’s test was positive in 34 (70.8%) of the patients, and Neer’s test and Hawkins’ test were positive in 46 (95.8%) of the patients before shoulder arthroscopy. Shoulder arthroscopy revealed that 44 (91.7%) of 48 patients had subacromial impingement; 32 (66.7%) had SLAP lesions and internal impingement. In chronic impingement syndrome, sensitivity rates were 95.6% for Neer’s test and Hawkins’ test, whereas in internal impingement syndrome and slap lesions, the sensitivity of O’brien’s test was 94.1%. There was no statistical difference between the tests (p>0.05). Conclusion: 72.72% of the patients with chronic impingement syndrome had concomitant SLAP lesions. We suggest that O’Brien’s test should be used with Neer’s and Hawkins’ tests for diagnosis of this condition.