J Korean Shoulder Elbow Soc.
2008 Dec;11(2):131-136.
Clinical Features of Parsonage-Turner Syndrome
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Korea.
- 2Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul Medical Center, Korea. haikan@naver.com
Abstract
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PURPOSE: Parsonage-Turner syndrome is a rare disorder with sudden onset of severe pain around the shoulder girdle, followed by weakness of the shoulder muscles. The purpose of the current study was to describe the clinical features associated with this condition and to review the literature.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A retrospective study of the Parsonage-Turner syndrome was carried out for 6 patients seen from December 2005 to July 2008. The clinical and radiographic data was collected by medical records and telephone interviews. Five patients were males and one was female with ages ranging between 20-68 years (mean, 43.5). The mean follow-up period was 19.1 months (range, 14-27 months).
RESULTS
The intense pain around shoulder continued for 1 day to 3 weeks and decreased spontaneously at a mean of 3.3 weeks (range, 2-5 weeks) after onset of pain. Weakness in the involved muscles had developed at a mean of four weeks (range, 2-7 weeks). At the end of follow-up, five patients had an improvement of their strength and one patient had regained full strength. Electromyography was the most helpful in diagnosis.
CONCLUSION
Parsonage-Turner syndrome is a self-limited disorder with a good outcome. Understanding of the course will assist in the diagnosis and treatment.
