Frozen shoulder: a 12-month clinical outcome trial

A prospective study was undertaken of 73 patients with frozen shoulder syndrome who were treated with an arthroscopic capsulotomy. All of the patients were assessed for pain, function, and range of motion before surgery and were monitored through to 1-year follow up. Improvement in all parameters was achieved, with pain taking an average of 2.24 weeks to diminish and range of motion improving to within 10% of the other side at an average of 5.5 weeks after surgery. Patients were discharged with a full range of motion and without pain at an average of 8.9 weeks. There was, however, some mild reaggravation of most patients' pain within the postoperative period (mean 4.5 weeks). This pain usually settled with appropriate massage within a 2-week period. In 37% of cases, however, an injection of corticosteroid was required as part of the postoperative management. These cases were usually in that subgroup of patients who still had significant night pain and were in stage 2 or 3 of the disease process at the time of surgery. The postoperative results continued to the 12-month follow-up, with 11% of patients having a recurrence of pain or stiffness. This study has demonstrated that arthroscopic capsulotomy is an effective technique in the management of the frozen shoulder. It also has enabled the authors to document postoperative recovery times, which has given prospective patients realistic time frames of functional expectation in their postoperative recovery.