Use the Back button in your browser to see the other results of your search or to select another record.

Detailed Search Results

Acupuncture for frozen shoulder
Sun KO, Chan KC, Lo SL, Fong DY
Hong Kong Medical Journal 2001 Dec;7(4):381-391
clinical trial
7/10 [Eligibility criteria: Yes; Random allocation: Yes; Concealed allocation: No; Baseline comparability: Yes; Blind subjects: No; Blind therapists: No; Blind assessors: Yes; Adequate follow-up: Yes; Intention-to-treat analysis: Yes; Between-group comparisons: Yes; Point estimates and variability: Yes. Note: Eligibility criteria item does not contribute to total score] *This score has been confirmed*

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.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help