title: Acupuncture for frozen shoulder.
abstract: This randomised controlled trial was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for frozen shoulder. Thirty-five patients with a diagnosis of frozen shoulder were randomly allocated to an exercise group or an exercise plus acupuncture group and treated for a period of 6 weeks. Functional mobility, power, and pain were assessed by a blinded assessor using the Constant Shoulder Assessment, at baseline, 6 weeks and 20 weeks. Analysis was based on the intention-to-treat principle. Compared with the exercise group, the exercise plus acupuncture group experienced significantly greater improvement with treatment. Improvements in scores by 39.8% (standard deviation, 27.1) and 76.4% (55.0) were seen for the exercise and the exercise plus acupuncture groups, respectively at 6 weeks (P=0.048), and were sustained at the 20-week re-assessment (40.3% [26.7] and 77.2% [54.0], respectively; P=0.025). We conclude that the combination of acupuncture with shoulder exercise may offer effective treatment for frozen shoulder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Operating Theatre Services, Kwong Wah Hospital, 25 Waterloo Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: K O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: D Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Fong
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000328:Adult; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome