NCT07158255

Effects of Exercise on Adhesive Capsulitis

Effect of Exercise Training on Pain, Range of Motion, Functionality and Shoulder Architecture in Patients With Adhesive Capsulitis

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 32 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Hasan Kalyoncu University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 35 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Our study aims to investigate the effects of exercise training on pain, range of motion, functionality and shoulder architecture in patients with adhesive capsulitis.

Detailed description

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. Early treatment success is achieved through pain reduction and increased function rather than achieving full range of motion. Pain with movement is minimal in primary frozen shoulder in Stage 1, while night pain accompanied by activity pain is also observed in Stages 2 and 3. Secondary frozen shoulder presents with similar pain, primarily caused by inflammation in the shoulder joint capsule. Increasing range of motion without pain suppression is quite difficult in patients with frozen shoulder. Although heat or electrotherapy methods are accepted 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. For this reason, therapeutic methods are generally applied in addition to manual therapy and therapeutic exercises. Thermal tools and stretching exercises are frequently used in physiotherapy to maintain and regain flexibility. Ultrasonography, which is among the clinical diagnostic methods performed in patients with adhesive capsulitis, has shown increased thickness, especially in the coracohumeral ligament, followed by fibrous changes in the supraspinatus tendon and long head of the biceps. The effectiveness of exercise training combined with electrotherapy on many factors has been frequently investigated in the literature. However, a review of the literature did not find any studies on the effects of exercise training given in adhesive capsulitis on shoulder architecture. The fact that ultrasonographic examination, an indispensable part of the diagnosis and treatment process, provides objective data on the effects of exercise will increase the quality of the study. In this context, our study; The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of exercise training on pain, range of motion, functionality and shoulder architecture in patients with adhesive capsulitis.

Conditions

• Adhesive Capsulitis
• Exercise
• Ultrasonography

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	electrotherapy treatment	Patients in the electrotherapy group will receive 15 sessions of TENS, hotpack, and ultrasound, 45 minutes each, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks. The treatment program is planned for 20 minutes of TENS, 15 minutes of hotpack, and 10 minutes of ultrasound.
OTHER	Exercise training	In addition to electrotherapy, the patients in the study group will receive 15 sessions (45 minutes, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks) of exercise training consistent with the literature. Exercise training includes programs to increase joint range of motion and mobility at the pain threshold and to restore functionality. Following electrotherapy, upper extremity normal range of motion exercises, anterior and posterior capsule stretching exercises, pendulum exercises, wand exercises, isometric training in 3 planes, and isotonic strengthening exercises will be applied. Five exercises will be selected each day, performed under the supervision of a physiotherapist. A 2-minute rest period will be provided after each exercise, followed by a transition to the next exercise. Care will be taken to perform the exercises within the pain threshold and to ensure that the pain does not exceed a VAS score of 2.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-09-05
• Primary completion: 2025-10-30
• Completion: 2025-11-15
• First posted: 2025-09-05
• Last updated: 2025-09-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Turkey (Türkiye)