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European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2016 August;52(4):575-82

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Motion analysis of the shoulder in adults: kinematics and electromyography for the clinical practice

Ilaria PAREL ^{1, 2}, Ellen JASPERS ³, Liesbet DE BAETS ⁴, Amedeo AMORESANO ¹, Andrea G. CUTTI ¹ ✉

¹ INAIL Prosthetic Center, Vigorso di Budrio, Bologna, Italy; ² Laboratory of Biomechanics, Cervesi Hospital, Cattolica, Rimini, Italy; ³ Neural Control of Movement Lab, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; ⁴ REVAL, Rehabilitation Research Institute, BIOMED, Biomedical Research Institute, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium

In this paper, the principal aspects of kinematic and electromyographic (EMG) analysis of the shoulder and their potential for the every-day clinical practice are described. The text reports a brief description of standard recommendations for movement assessment, an overview of the main quantitative motion analysis protocols and a description of the most commonly investigated scapulothoracic muscles. To assess the possibility of using these protocols for clinical applications, reliability and repeatability of kinematic and EMG measures were investigated and reference data for scapulohumeral joint kinematics were provided. The last part of the manuscript reports the integration of the quantitative analysis of scapula dyskinesis within the widely accepted Constant-Murley clinical score. In addition, examples of assessment of muscles activity and recruitment patterns are discussed since they are crucial for the clinical evaluation of common shoulder pathologies.