Abstract
We performed arthroscopic manipulation on frozen shoulders for which no improvement by conservative treatment was seen. Sixteen shoulders of 16 patients, undergoing arthroscopic manipulation from July 1995 to August 2001 at our hospital, were investigated in this study. There were eight males and eight females with a mean age of 56.5 years (45 to 68 years), and mean follow-up period of 7.2 months (3 to 19 months). The improvement of preoperative and postoperative ranges of motion (flexion, abduction, external rotation, internal rotation) and sharp pain (JOA score) were compared. The mean improvement of the range of motion was 55 degrees in flexion, 63 degrees in abduction, 28 degrees in external rotation and three vertebras in internal rotation, respectively.
Moreover, for sharp pain (JOA score), the mean postoperative score improved to 22.2 points, compared to the preoperative 11.3 points. Arthroscopic manipulation for frozen shoulders was therefore effective for improving range of motion and sharp pain.
