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Case Report

Chronic shoulder pain referred from thymic carcinoma: a case report and review of literature

, , , &
Pages 399-403 | Published online: 04 Sep 2012
 

Abstract

We report a case of thymic carcinoma presenting as unilateral shoulder pain for 13 months. Before an accurate diagnosis was made, the patient received conservative treatment, cervical discectomies, and myofascial trigger point injection, none of which relieved his pain. When thymic carcinoma was eventually diagnosed, he received total resection of the tumor and the shoulder pain subsided completely. Thymic carcinoma is a rare carcinoma, and our review of the literature did not show shoulder pain as its initial presentation except for one case report. The purpose of this report is to document our clinical experience so that other physiatrists can include thymic carcinoma in their differential diagnosis of shoulder pain.

Disclosure

No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.