Manipulation and arthroscopy under general anesthesia and early rehabilitative treatment for frozen shoulders

Abstract Castellarin G, Ricci M, Vedovi E, Vecchini E, Sembenini P, Marangon A, Vangelista A. Manipulation and arthroscopy under general anesthesia and early rehabilitative treatment for frozen shoulders. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:1236–40. Objective To evaluate the efficacy of manipulation followed by arthroscopic release of the glenohumeral joint in conjunction with an immediate and intensive rehabilitation program. Design Retrospective, descriptive study. Setting A free-standing, university-affiliated orthopedics and rehabilitation hospital. Participants Forty patients with a clinical diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis resistant to pharmacologic and physical therapy (PT). Interventions Patients underwent manipulation and arthroscopic release of the capsular joint and were given an intensive PT program on the first postoperative day. Main outcome measures All patients were evaluated pre- and postoperatively at follow-up at an average of 42 months by using the Simple Shoulder Test (SST), the Constant-Murley system score, and passive (PROM) and active (AROM) range of motion. Results The SST, which showed a mean preoperative score of 2.2±0.7, was 10.8±0.7 ( P P Conclusions Results support the efficacy of manipulation follow by arthroscopic release and rehabilitative treatment for patients with resistant adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder.