Arthroscopic Release versus Manipulation under Anesthesia for Frozen Shoulder: A Prospective Study

Frozen shoulder is a painful condition in which surgery may be helpful in case of failure of conservative treatment. In this prospective study we tried to compare two common methods of surgical treatment.
Between 2011 and 2012, 54 patients with frozen shoulder were treated by one of the two methods of arthroscopic release and manipulation under anesthesia. The variables studied were postoperative pain, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and Simple shoulder test (SST) scores, range of motion in different directions and pain in the last follow up.
Findings: All the patients in the two groups had significant improvement in comparison to preoperative scores at the least follow up of one year. The difference between the two groups was not significant in internal rotation, forward flexion and pain in the last follow up, but among the other variables, the arthroscopy group showed more improvement. No statistically significant association was found among the variables and diabetes, age, dominant limb involvement and sex.
Based upon the findings of the present study it seems that both manipulation under anesthesia and arthroscopic release are effective treatments for frozen shoulder.