Subacromial impingement syndrome represents one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. The rehabilitation of this problem is focused on reduction of pain and improvement of dysfunctional motor pattern. The main goal of our study was to determine if a rehabilitation method called controlled suspension exercise (CSE) made in an unstable setting could improve the condition of patient with a subacute phase of subacromial impingement. The study was focused on 19 athletic subjects diagnosed with subacromial impingement syndrome. Pre-treatment and post-treatment evaluation (T0 and T1) was performed by measuring pain using the VAS scale, active ROM using Multi Joint System® (MJS) and through execution of clinical-functional tests for shoulder Hawkins test and/or Yocum test and/or Neer test associated with a positive Jobe test and/or Palm-Up test. Treatment protocol provides for 12 total sessions of CSE (three times a week for 4 weeks) lasting about 45-50 minutes each. At the end of the study all the evaluation parameters showed an improvement with a decrease in VAS scale and positivity to functional shoulder's tests and an increase in shoulder joint ROM. These results suggest that a training in an unstable setting can improve the condition of patients suffering from subacromial impingement.
