Association between cheiroarthropathy and frozen shoulder in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Twenty-nine patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) were identified as having cheiroarthropathy. They were compared for the presence of shoulder problems with 28 controls with normal hands, matched for age, sex and duration of diabetes mellitus. Frozen shoulder was diagnosed in 13 of the 29 patients with cheiroarthropathy--10 with bilateral frozen shoulder, and in two of the 28 control patients--one bilateral (p = 0.0025). The increased incidence of frozen shoulder in patients with cheiroarthropathy has not been described previously. There was an increased frequency of microvascular complications in the diabetic patients with cheiroarthropathy compared with the controls. Advanced retinopathy was present in 18 of the 29 cheiroarthropathy patients, of whom six were blind, compared with seven of the 28 controls, of whom none was blind (p = 0.003). Peripheral neuropathy was found in 28 of the 29 cheiroarthropathy patients and in seven of the 28 controls (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the frequency of nephropathy or in the degree of diabetic control.