Pharmacopuncture therapy for adhesive capsulitis: A pragmatic randomized controlled pilot study.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Integrative Medicine

Background:

• Adhesive capsulitis (AC), or frozen shoulder, significantly impacts shoulder mobility and quality of life.
• While acupuncture is studied for AC, research on pharmacopuncture therapy (PPT) is limited.
• Comparing PPT with conventional physiotherapy (PT) is crucial for understanding AC treatment efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness and safety of pharmacopuncture therapy (PPT) versus physiotherapy (PT) for treating adhesive capsulitis (AC).
• To evaluate patient-reported outcomes, including pain, disability, and quality of life.

Main Methods:

• A pragmatic, randomized, controlled, parallel-group pilot study.
• 50 patients with AC (shoulder pain NRS ≥5) were randomized 1:1 to PPT or PT groups.
• Treatments were administered twice weekly for 6 weeks, with follow-up at 13 weeks.

Main Results:

• The PPT group demonstrated significantly superior improvements in shoulder pain (NRS, VAS), disability (SPADI), range of motion (flexion, abduction), and quality of life (EQ-5D-5L) at 7 weeks.
• Improvements in other measures, including range of motion (extension, adduction) and patient global impression of change, were also significantly better in the PPT group and sustained at 13 weeks.

Conclusions:

• Pharmacopuncture therapy (PPT) showed superior effectiveness compared to physiotherapy (PT) in treating adhesive capsulitis (AC).
• These findings support the feasibility and efficacy of PPT for AC, justifying a larger-scale follow-up study.