Rotator Cuff Calcific Tendonitis
- A Retrospective Cohort Study -

Calcifying tendinitis (CaT) of the shoulder is a common disorder, diagnosed in
6.8% of patients with shoulder complaints. It's frequently a self-limiting
disease, but there is a lot of debate on whether or not to treat CaT, and which
treatment methods to use. Many patients with CAT have chronic shoulder pain,
and face restrictions in their daily lives, so in these cases treatment is
indicated. Due to the self-limiting character of CaT, minimally invasive
treatment methods with very few risks and complication rates are preferred.
The first step in the treatment of CaT is expectative maqnagement. If the
shoulder pain persists, there are conservative treatment options including
physical therapy, shock-wave therapy, or a subacromial injection with
corticosteroids. A next step in treatment is barbotage: using ultrasound or
röntgen guidance, calcific depositions are punctured and washed out with
saline. When conservative treatments or barbotage are unsuccesful, surgery can
be considered.
There is much uncertainty on the effectiveness of the alternatives in the first
steps in treatment of CaT, and on the long-term results of (conservative)
treatment of CaT. The choice of treatment often depends on physician or
geographical region. A well-designed retrospective study comparing clinical and
radiological outcomes of expectative management, common conservative
treatments, and barbotage treatment, would provide more insight on the
effectiveness of these treatment methods and their long-term effects. It also
offers the opportunity to study a large group of CaT patients with regards to
demographic and radiographical characteristics, in order to gain in insight in
risk factors of symptomatic CaT.

1) To compare (long-term) results of patients treated for Calcific Tendonitis
with barbotage, versus patients treated for Calcific Tendonitis with other
conservative standard-treatments
2) An analysis of group characteristics and risk factors for CaT (including
age, gender, arm dominance and radiological scores).

Case-control study:
1) Comparing long-term clinical and radiological outcomes in CaT patients
treated with barbotage, versus outcomes in CaT patients treated with other
conservative treatments.

Cohort Study:
2) Analysis of risk factors and group characteristics in patients with
symptomatic CaT.

Completing the questionnaire takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes in total.
These questionnaires will be sent to the patients by regular mail and can be
returned to the researcher in a included postage free eveloppe.

No additional risks are expected for participants in this study.