Background Shoulder pain secondary to acromioclavicular joint pain is a common presentation in primary and secondary care, but often poorly managed due to uncertainty about optimal treatment strategies. Osteoarthritis is the commonest cause. While acromioclavicular pain can be treated non-operatively and operatively, there appears to be no consensus on the best practice pathway of care for these patients with variations in treatment being common place. The objective of this paper was to conduct a scoping review of the current published evidence for the management of isolated acromioclavicular pain (excluding acromioclavicular joint dislocation). Methods A comprehensive search strategy was utilised in multiple medical databases to identify level 1 and 2 randomised controlled trials, non-randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews for appraisal. Results Four systematic reviews and two randomised controlled trials were identified. No direct studies have compared the benefits or risks of conservative versus surgical management in a controlled environment. Discussion High level studies on treatment modalities for acromioclavicular joint pain are limited. As such, there remains little evidence to support one intervention or treatment over another, making it difficult to develop any evidenced based patient pathways of care for this condition.</p
