A Systematic Approach to the Interpretation of the Shoulder Radiograph to Avoid Common Diagnostic Errors

The shoulder is probably the most often-imaged joint encountered in daily radiologic practice, owing at least partially to varying levels of its inclusion on most chest radiographs. Radiologists should be proficient and attentive to subtle but clinically significant abnormalities that can be easily overlooked because of the complex anatomy of this region and overlapping structures. The use of a checklist approach, and recognition of common shoulder pathology and injury patterns, can potentially increase the radiologist's accuracy and efficiency when interpreting shoulder radiographs. The objective of this article is to present a simple, thorough, and reproducible method for evaluating the shoulder, highlighting common shoulder pathologies and the relevance of a systematic checklist approach for the interpretation of shoulder radiographs in daily clinical radiologic practice.