Recently, FICEBO’s Thomas Ibounig co-authored a new review published in JAMA Internal Medicine together with researchers Romi Haas and Rachelle Buchbinder from Monash University. The article offers an updated approach to shoulder pain and highlights an important point: imaging findings are very common and do not necessarily explain a patient’s symptoms.
The University of Helsinki shared news about the review in Finnish, you can read the news article here.
This fits closely with Thomas’s doctoral research, which found structural shoulder changes in almost all people over 40, including many who had no pain at all. Rotator cuff abnormalities were present in almost all participants, while many full-thickness tendon tears and osteoarthritic changes were found in completely asymptomatic shoulders. These findings underline that an abnormal MRI or X-ray does not necessarily identify the cause of a patient’s pain. The review therefore recommends avoiding routine imaging unless there has been a clear injury or there is concern about a serious condition, and instead focusing on recovery, activity and individualised care.
Thomas will defend his doctoral dissertation "From Images to Insights in the Management of Shoulder Complaints", at the University of Helsinki on 28 August 2026 at 12:00. The thesis is also now available online in the University of Helsinki’s Helda.
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