The Effect of Fascial Treatment in Patients With Adhesive Capsulitis

Overview

Our study is unique in that it utilizes a self-designed fascial mobilization protocol and ultrasonographic evaluation for adhesive capsulitis. Therefore, the aim of our study is to investigate the effects of fascial therapy on pain, normal joint range of motion, proprioception, and fascial architecture in patients diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis.

Adhesive capsulitis (AC) is a common shoulder condition characterized by a gradual increase in spontaneous pain and a limitation in glenohumeral joint range of motion. Its pathophysiology, a pathological process of capsular fibrosis following synovial inflammation, is relatively well understood, but its cause remains unknown. The literature on the treatment of frozen shoulder, whose etiology remains unknown, provides evidence of the effectiveness of conservative treatment approaches such as physiotherapy, analgesics, and steroid injections (1). Pain with movement is minimal in Stage 1 of primary frozen shoulder, while night pain accompanied by activity pain is observed in Stages 2 and 3. Similar pain is observed in secondary frozen shoulder, and the pain is primarily caused by inflammation in the shoulder joint capsule. Increasing range of motion without suppressing pain in patients with frozen shoulder is quite challenging. While heat or electrotherapy are theoretically considered to have positive effects on pain in their treatment, it is difficult to determine the impact of a single method on the natural course of the disease. Therefore, therapeutic methods are generally applied in addition to manual therapy and therapeutic exercises. (2) Pain with movement is minimal in Stage 1 of primary frozen shoulder, while night pain accompanying activity pain is observed in Stages 2 and 3. Similar pain is observed in secondary frozen shoulder, and the pain is primarily caused by inflammation in the shoulder joint capsule. Increasing range of motion without suppressing pain is quite difficult in patients with frozen shoulder. While heat or electrotherapy are considered to have theoretically positive effects on pain in treatment, it is difficult to determine the effect of a single method on the natural course of the disease. Therefore, therapeutic methods are generally applied in addition to manual therapy and therapeutic exercises (3). Studies have suggested the effectiveness of these treatment methods, but sufficient data on the effectiveness of these methods are not yet available (4). Manual therapy methods have begun to be used in adhesive capsulitis, but a meta-analysis has not yet determined the optimal treatment dose (5). Fascia therapy has recently become increasingly used, particularly for lumbar spine pathologies. However, no studies were found on shoulder fascia (6). Ultrasonography is a diagnostic method used in patients with adhesive capsulitis. Ultrasonographic evaluation studies have observed increased coracohumeral ligament thickness, increased supraspinatus tendon thickness, and effusion. However, no ultrasonographic study demonstrating changes in shoulder architecture following physiotherapy interventions was found (7,8). No studies were found on fascial treatment; only one study used instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (9). Our study is unique in that it utilized a self-designed fascial mobilization protocol and was evaluated with ultrasonography in adhesive capsulitis. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the effects of fascial treatment on pain, normal joint range of motion, proprioception, and fascial architecture in patients with adhesive capsulitis.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes

Central Contacts