Comparison of physiotherapy with and without intra-articular corticosteroid injection for treatment of frozen shoulder: A comparative study.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the combination of corticosteroid injection and physiotherapy with physiotherapy alone in patients of frozen shoulder in terms of SPADI score.

METHODS

This study included 80 patients of either gender from PMC and affiliated hospitals of Faisalabad with ages between 18-55 years having frozen shoulder of either gender with more than 1 month duration. Patients having frozen shoulder secondary to trauma, cerebrovascular accident and taking steroid injections were excluded. Combination of corticosteroid injection and physiotherapy was performed in combination therapy group (n=40) and physiotherapy alone was performed in Single therapy group (n=40).

RESULTS

A total of 80 patients, 30(37.5%) males and 50(62.5%) females were selected for the study. Each group, combination therapy and single therapy had 40 patients each. The combination therapy group included 18(45.0%) males and 22(44.0%) females whereas the single therapy group comprised of 12(39.9%) males and 28(70%) females. The treatment method was independent of duration of disease (p= 0.251 for c2= 1.317). After six weeks of treatment, the t-test applied on SPADI score showed that combined treatment is better than the single treatment method (p= 0.016). However, both treatment methods were found same after stratification of duration of disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Combination of corticosteroid injection and physiotherapy is more effective than the physiotherapy alone in resolving the shoulder pain and disability of shoulder.