Treatment trends for biceps injuries

Synopsis: A patient with a long head biceps (LHB) tendinopathy, which is a pain and/or tearing of the tendon, may also have a shoulder problem and/or a rotator cuff tear. LHB tendinopahy can be caused by injury, trauma, overuse, inflammation or degeneration. Because of the variety of the causes and the range of possible severity, a patient needs a thorough examination, including radiographic imaging to determine the diagnosis and treatment. Traditional treatments include both surgical and nonsurgical approaches. "The surgeon's goal in treating any long head biceps tendinopathy is to address the pain in a way that also respects the patient's lifestyle. And, as we found, there is a variety of excellent surgical and nonsurgical options. In developing this review, we also discovered the need for more comparative research data on surgical versus nonsurgical treatment outcomes for this condition." Said Shane Nho, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon who practices in Chicago and whose review appears in the November issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons