Effect of long head of biceps brachii strength on acromiohumeral distance in shoulder impingement syndrome patients

Shoulder complaints are consistent with impingement in certain occupations. The biceps tendon act as a depressor of the humeral head. Excessive superior head migration contributes to reduced subacromial space. Strong positive relationship was found between the reduction of AHD narrowing and functional improvement following rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of long head of biceps (LHB) strengthening exercises in improving acromiohumeral distance (AHD) in shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) patients. Twenty five shoulder impingement syndrome patients were recruited for this study. They were divided into two groups; biceps group (N=14, 8 males, 6 females), and non-biceps group (N=11, 6 males, 5 females). AHD was measured for all patients using ultrasonography at shoulder adduction and abduction. The results showed that there were no significant difference (P>0.06) in AHD at shoulder adduction and abduction posttest between groups. However, this difference was close to significance at abduction (i.e. p =0.06). These results may have future implication in improving patients pain and function.