The Effect of Combined Hydrodilatation, Corticosteroid Injection, and Joint Mobilization for Treament of Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder (FS) is a common clinical problem which induces pain, loss of passive and active range of motion (ROM) of glenohumeral joint, and leads to disability, functional limitation, and decreasing quality of life. FS is usually treated with conservative treatments, which include medications, physiotherapy, joint mobilization, hydrodilatation, intra-articular steroid injection, etc.. The short-term effect of each treatment is variable, and the long-term effect is not established. Clinically combination of each treatment is common, but types of combination, and the effect of combination is still not well studied. We aim to combine hydrodilatation (with corticosteroid injection), joint mobilization, and general physiotherapy to treat frozen shoulder and compare the long-term effect with general physical therapy alone.

This is a prospective single-blind randomized controlled trial. 70 participants will be recruited from the outpatient clinic of the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital and randomly divided into COMB group and PT group. Each subject in the COMB group will receive 2 times of ultrasound-guided hydrodilatation injection (10mg triamcilonone, 2cc 1% xylocain, and 17cc normal saline) through both anterior and posterior shoulder joint in a two-weekly interval. In addition, joint mobilization and general physiotherapy (stretch exercise and physical modalities) will also be given, 2 times a week, for 8 weeks. The PT group will receive general physical therapy, 2 times a week, for 8 weeks. Outcome measures include the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), the Shoulder Disability Questionnaire (SDQ), and active and passive range of motion (ROM) of the affected shoulder, the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and patients' self evaluation. Evaluation will be performed at baseline and at 2, 4, 6 months after the beginning of the treatment. Statistics will be performed after completing the patients' treatment and evaluations. We expect that the COMB group will recover sooner and better than the PT group.