Peer-reviewedCC BYInterventional pain medicine16 Oct 2026

Prevalence of MRI findings in adults with scapular pain: An exploratory cross-sectional study.

Chetan K Potu¹
Henry J Wong²
Joshua Levin¹
Raymond Chou¹

¹Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Redwood City, CA, USA.
²Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Redwood City, CA, USA.

Abstract

Background

Scapular pain has multiple possible pain generators including cervical radiculopathy, facet arthropathy, scapular dyskinesis, and myofascial pain making selecting an appropriate interventional target challenging. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be ordered as part of the workup, but the prevalence of imaging findings has not been reported.Objective

To explore the prevalence of findings identified on MRI in patients with scapular pain.Methods

This single-center exploratory cross-sectional study included adults presenting to orthopedic clinics from June 2015-June 2025 with scapular pain. Prevalence of MRI findings in the cervicothoracic spine, shoulder, and scapula were determined.Results

284 of 503 patients (56%) obtained at least one MRI: cervical spine (203), thoracic spine (76), shoulder (106), and scapula (22). The most prevalent findings were supraspinatus tendinopathy (88%), C5-6 foraminal stenosis (66%), and C5-6 degenerative changes (65%).Conclusions

C5-6 pathology and supraspinatus tendinopathy were the most prevalent findings in patients with scapular pain. Incidental MRI findings in the spine and shoulder increase with age, and therefore MRI findings in patients with scapular pain should be cautiously interpreted within appropriate clinical context.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{potu2026prevalence,
  title = {{Prevalence of MRI findings in adults with scapular pain: An exploratory cross-sectional study.}},
  author = {Chetan K Potu and Henry J Wong and Joshua Levin and Raymond Chou},
  journal = {Interventional pain medicine},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.inpm.2026.100827},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927185},
  note = {CC BY},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Prevalence of MRI findings in adults with scapular pain: An exploratory cross-sectional study.
AU  - Chetan K Potu
AU  - Henry J Wong
AU  - Joshua Levin
AU  - Raymond Chou
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/16
JO  - Interventional pain medicine
DO  - 10.1016/j.inpm.2026.100827
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927185
AB  - Background  Scapular pain has multiple possible pain generators including cervical radiculopathy, facet arthropathy, scapular dyskinesis, and myofascial pain making selecting an appropriate interventional target challenging. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be ordered as part of the workup, but the prevalence of imaging findings has not been reported.Objective  To explore the prevalence of findings identified on MRI in patients with scapular pain.Methods  This single-center exploratory cross-sectional study included adults presenting to orthopedic clinics from June 2015-June 2025 with scapular pain. Prevalence of MRI findings in the cervicothoracic spine, shoulder, and scapula were determined.Results  284 of 503 patients (56%) obtained at least one MRI: cervical spine (203), thoracic spine (76), shoulder (106), and scapula (22). The most prevalent findings were supraspinatus tendinopathy (88%), C5-6 foraminal stenosis (66%), and C5-6 degenerative changes (65%).Conclusions  C5-6 pathology and supraspinatus tendinopathy were the most prevalent findings in patients with scapular pain. Incidental MRI findings in the spine and shoulder increase with age, and therefore MRI findings in patients with scapular pain should be cautiously interpreted within appropriate clinical context.
SN  - 2772-5944
ER  -

Abstract

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