NCT01073956

Efficacy of Electrotherapy in Subacromial Impingement Syndrome

Efficacy of Electrotherapy in Subacromial Impingement Syndrome: Randomised Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 92 (actual)
• Sponsor: Fundacio Espai Salut · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of electrotherapy as a coadjuvant in mobility and exercise treatment in the reduction of pain intensity in subacromial impingement syndrome.

Detailed description

Among the different diagnoses covered by the concept of shoulder pain, the most common is subacromial impingement syndrome, which represents 44%-60% of the total.Specific supervised exercises obtain improvements in the range of movement and muscular function by restoring the shoulder's mobility and stability. Physiotherapeutic options include several electrotherapy techniques. Ultrasound is no more beneficial than exercise alone. Likewise, the results of some more recent studies evaluating the application of ultrasound alone versus placebo, showed that ultrasound alone in physiotherapy treatment of shoulder pain is only effective in patients with calcific tendonitis of the shoulder. All the authors, however, suggest that effectiveness can vary, depending on application conditions, dosage and timing. The primary objective of the trial is to analyze the efficacy of electrotherapy treatment (monopolar radiofrequency or ultrasound) coadjuvant to mobility and exercise therapy in the reduction of pain intensity in subacromial impingement syndrome. The secondary objectives of this study are to determine the differences between three intervention groups: monopolar radiofrequency, ultrasound and inactive radiofrequency, in improvement of performance status, quality of life and global impression of improvement.

Conditions

• Shoulder Impingement Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Medium-wave 448 kHz therapy	0.5 MHz radiofrequency for 10 minutes. At SPS insertion and bicipital groove
PROCEDURE	Ultrasonic therapy	Pulsed 1 MHz ultrasound at 2 W/cm2 for 10 minutes. At SPS insertion and bicipital-groove
PROCEDURE	Inactive electrotherapy	Inactive electrotherapy, inactive head, dosage 0 W/cm2 for 10 minutes. At SPS insertion and bicipital groove.

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-02-01
• Primary completion: 2011-01-01
• Completion: 2011-12-01
• First posted: 2010-02-23
• Last updated: 2011-07-07

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: Spain