Contracture of the shoulder joint

The movements of the shoulder joint may sometimes be markedley limited due to posttraumatic or inflammatory changes in the shoulder joint or in adjacent organs, a condition designated as contracture of the shoulder joint or frozen shoulder. The routine treatment consists of positioning the arm as often as possible in abduction, and of diligent active and passive mobilization exercises. In those patients who started the treatment after a long delay so that the articular as well as the periarticular tissues were very shrunken, manipulation of the shoulder joint was carried out under general anesthesia this led to the return of full motion of the joint in the great majority of these patients. However, in those patients who did not benefit by manipulation, surgical revision of the joint and of periarticular structures was carried out for excision of all scarified tissues. The result was restoration of the mobility of the joint to an adequate although not total range.