FROZEN SHOULDER - TREATMENT AND RESULTS

Even today the aetiology of the frozen shoulder is still under discuss ion. At the Orthopaedic Department of the Medizinische Hochschule Hann over, 118 persons with a frozen shoulder were treated as in- or outpat ients between 1980 and 1988. We investigated the results of two differ ent specific therapy concepts. Most of the patients received a mixture of drug therapy and physical rehabilitation under the guidance of a p hysiotherapist. In a smaller group of patients, the frozen shoulder wa s mobilized under anaesthesia (mobilisation force). After an average f ollow-up time of 3.8 years from the start of treatment, 93% of the pat ients was examined by means of an individual subjective rating (score) . In addition, a clinical examination was performed in 69% of the case s. According to the subjective personal rating (score) as well as the improvement in range of motion, moderate mobilisation led to better re sults than the mobilisation under anaesthesia.