Although CT is the gold standard for diagnosing and characterizing fractures, MRI has been shown to be equivalent to CT in diagnosing the nondisplaced fractures that are typically missed on radiographs. CT Arthrography Shoulder CT is inferior to MRI and US in diagnosing virtually all extra-articular traumatic soft-tissues injuries. CT is considered the gold standard in identifying fractures. However, MRI has shown to be equivalent to CT in assessing bone loss [12,18], and MRI is usually adequate for diagnosing the nondisplaced fractures that are typically missed on conventional radiographs. CT arthrography is able to reliably evaluate for glenohumeral cartilage injury, SLAP tears, and labroligamentous injuries [12,39] but is generally considered inferior to MRI in diagnosing rotator cuff and soft-tissue Bankart lesions [12]. FDG-PET/CT Skull Base to Mid-Thigh FDG-PET/CT Skull Base to Mid-Thigh FDG-PET/CT imaging is rarely used in assessment of traumatic shoulder pain. FDG-PET is sensitive for inflammation, and a correlation has been found between radiotracer activity and degree of shoulder pain [26]. However, increased radiotracer activity may be due to infectious, traumatic, inflammatory, or neoplastic processes, making this activity a nonspecific finding. FDG-PET imaging as an isolated modality has relatively poor resolution for pathology localization compared with other imaging modalities, although, FDG-PET imaging can be performed in conjunction with MRI or CT for better localization of radiotracer activity. FDG-PET in combination with CT is sensitive for identifying fractures, and it has been shown to be reliable in differentiating benign from malignant pathologic fractures [27]. FDG-PET/CT imaging is not routinely performed for characterization of soft-tissue injuries of the shoulder.
Shoulder Pain Traumatic PCAs. Although CT is the gold standard for diagnosing and characterizing fractures, MRI has been shown to be equivalent to CT in diagnosing the nondisplaced fractures that are typically missed on radiographs. CT Arthrography Shoulder CT is inferior to MRI and US in diagnosing virtually all extra-articular traumatic soft-tissues injuries. CT is considered the gold standard in identifying fractures. However, MRI has shown to be equivalent to CT in assessing bone loss [12,18], and MRI is usually adequate for diagnosing the nondisplaced fractures that are typically missed on conventional radiographs. CT arthrography is able to reliably evaluate for glenohumeral cartilage injury, SLAP tears, and labroligamentous injuries [12,39] but is generally considered inferior to MRI in diagnosing rotator cuff and soft-tissue Bankart lesions [12]. FDG-PET/CT Skull Base to Mid-Thigh FDG-PET/CT Skull Base to Mid-Thigh FDG-PET/CT imaging is rarely used in assessment of traumatic shoulder pain. FDG-PET is sensitive for inflammation, and a correlation has been found between radiotracer activity and degree of shoulder pain [26]. However, increased radiotracer activity may be due to infectious, traumatic, inflammatory, or neoplastic processes, making this activity a nonspecific finding. FDG-PET imaging as an isolated modality has relatively poor resolution for pathology localization compared with other imaging modalities, although, FDG-PET imaging can be performed in conjunction with MRI or CT for better localization of radiotracer activity. FDG-PET in combination with CT is sensitive for identifying fractures, and it has been shown to be reliable in differentiating benign from malignant pathologic fractures [27]. FDG-PET/CT imaging is not routinely performed for characterization of soft-tissue injuries of the shoulder.