Editorial Commentary: MRI Findings Are Only One Part of the Equation in National Football League Athletes: Shoulder Instability in Contact Athletes.

ABSTRACT

Shoulder instability is a common problem in contact sports such as the National Football League. Although many elite level football athletes will have shoulder magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings consistent with labral tearing on MRI, these imaging findings are not always correlated with symptomatic instability or functional limitations. It is crucial in all patients, not just National Football League athletes, to treat the patient, and not the MRI.