TITLE:
Non-Traumatic Shoulder Pain in Rheumatology Outpatients at Lomé (Togo): Epidemiological, Clinical, Aetiological and Therapeutic Aspects
AUTHORS:
Eyram Fianyo, Salifou Gandema, Sadat Oninakitan, Kodjo Abossisso Sakiye, Badatana Bakate, Mazamaesso Tchaou, Kodjo Kakpovi, Owonayo Oniankitan
KEYWORDS:
Shoulder Pain, Tendinopathy, Periarticular Pathology, Black Africa (Togo)
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases,
Vol.15 No.4,
November
13,
2025
ABSTRACT: Objective: to determine the epidemiological, clinical, aetiological and therapeutic characteristics of non-traumatic shoulder at Lomé, the capital of Togo. Patients and Method: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2022, on the records of patients suffering from non-traumatic shoulder pain at the rheumatology department of Bè Hospital (Lomé). Data were collected and analyzed by Microsoft Excel 2019 and R 4.0.4 software in the RStudio 1.4 environment. Results: Of the 3695 outpatients seen during the period, 188 (5%) presented with shoulder pain with no trauma. The 188 patients were represented by 77.1% females (sex ratio 0.3). The average age was 56.3 ± 14.9 years. The pain had a progressive onset in 83.5% of cases, and was mechanical in nature in 80.3%. The average duration was 13.5 ± 24.5 months. The pain was located at only one site in 77.1% of cases. Simple painful shoulder was diagnosed in 80.9%, followed by pseudoparalytic shoulder (7.4%), frozen shoulder (6.4%), and hyperalgesic shoulder (5.3%). Periarticular pathology was predominant, accounting for 86.2% of cases, followed by chronic inflammatory arthropathies (6.4%), and osteoarthritis (3.2%). Treatment was based on analgesics (60.6%), musculoskeletal local steroid injection (53.7%) and NSAIDs (43.6%). Conclusion: Non-traumatic shoulder pain is common in rheumatology practices at Lomé. It is dominated by periarticular pathology. Treatment is mainly based on pharmacotherapy. Further studies need to be carried out to confirm these results and to assess the impact of the pain on patients’ quality of life.