Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Med Hypotheses. 2011 Aug;77(2):305-7. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2011.05.001. Epub 2011 Jun 2.
Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, is a disease of chronic inflammation and fibrosis involving the shoulder joints. The disease is challenging in clinical practice due to painful treatment course, with disease evolution usually lasting weeks or even months, causing significant discomfort and functional loss. Botulinum toxin (BTX) has been discovered to possess abilities in pain management at various clinical diseases. The actual mechanism is still under investigation, and involves inhibition of neurotransmitter release. In addition, BTX is also found to retard process of fibrosis, which is also a key issue in pathogenesis of frozen shoulder. Therefore, we hypothesize that intra-articular injection of BTX can be an effective alternative for treatment of frozen shoulder.
冻结肩，又称粘连性肩关节囊炎，是一种累及肩关节的慢性炎症性和纤维化疾病。由于治疗过程疼痛，疾病通常持续数周甚至数月，导致明显的不适和功能丧失，该病在临床实践中具有挑战性。肉毒毒素（BTX）已被发现具有在各种临床疾病中进行疼痛管理的能力。其实际机制仍在研究中，涉及抑制神经递质的释放。此外，BTX 还被发现可延缓纤维化过程，这也是冻结肩发病机制中的一个关键问题。因此，我们假设关节内注射 BTX 可能是治疗冻结肩的一种有效替代方法。
