Fluid Signal Intensity That Mimicked A Supraspinatus Tendon Tear In A Subacromial Injected Shoulder: A Case Report

Subacromial steroid injections are a common procedure for treating shoulder pain. Several studies have reported on the difficulty of performing an accurate injection into the subacromial bursa, as well as the injected material infiltrated into other regional structures even when an accurate injection was done into the subacromial space. These misplacements, and especially in the rotator cuff, creates high signal intensity on T2WI that can mimic a rotator cuff tear. Bergman and Fredericson found that the bursal and extrabursal fluid is resolved or decreased 3 days after the injection, so they recommended a 3-day delay after the shoulder injection before performing MRI to prevent misinterpretation of the signal changes. We report here on a case of a false fullthickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon on MRI one month after subacromial injection, and the supraspinatus tendon turned out to be intact on the follow up ultrasonography and arthroscopic examination