Modern management of calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder

SummaryCalcifying tendinitis of the rotator cuff is a common disorder and the underlying cause is still not fully understood. About 90% of patients can be treated non-operatively but some are resistant to conservative treatment and surgery is indicated. Non-operative treatments include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, subacromial injection of steroid, physiotherapy, extracorporeal shockwave therapy and needle aspiration irrigation. When conservative treatment fails, arthroscopic excision of calcium, sometimes combined with an acromioplasty and/or rotator cuff repair, reliably produces excellent results with high patient satisfaction. In this article, an up-to-date review of the published papers evaluating each treatment modality is presented.