Imaging-Guided Treatment of Scapulothoracic Bursitis

Abstract

Scapulothoracic region pain can be a diagnostic dilemma, occasionally being confused with other causes of shoulder pain or even a thoracic or cervical radiculopathy. True scapulothoracic bursitis can be caused by abnormal biomechanics between the scapula and the rib cage as an isolated entity, due to a structural lesion such as a tumor, posttraumatic, idiopathic, or secondary to a postsurgical deformity of the chest wall [1, 2]. Treatment of scapulothoracic bursitis can include conservative and surgical options, such as arthroscopic release of fibrous adhesions or bursectomies, or image-guided steroid/anesthetic injections of the bursa [2, 3, 4]. We present a case of a patient with scapulothoracic bursitis related to prior chest wall trauma and subsequent thoracoplasty, diagnosed with real-time fluoroscopy and treated with ultrasound-guided injection.