THE RAPID EFFECT OF INTRAVENOUS PREDNISOLONE TO IMPROVE THE SHOULDER RANGE OF MOTION IN PATIENTS WITH FROZEN SHOULDER

Adhesive capsulitis is a disabling painful and often prolonged shoulder condition that requires careful clinical diagnosis and management. Patients recover usually, but they may never regain their full range of motion. In order to evaluate the beneficial effects of short-course IV Prednisolone in increasing shoulder range of motion, this comparative study was planned.

Two age-sex matched groups of thirty patients suffered from idiopathic adhesive capsulitis for more than four months from the onset were collected. The extreme range of shoulder active motions at external rotation and abduction were measured and the mean values were calculated. Patients’ pain in external rotation was qualified via visual analog scale before and after the two weeks course of the treatment. The first group received oral Diclofenac (100mg/day), Omeprazole 20mg oral for two weeks associated with physiotherapy, but the second group received 500mg IV Prednisolone for three consecutive days at the beginning of the treatment in addition to the schedule for the first group.

Data obtained from the before and after the treatment showed that mean improvement in shoulders external rotation in the first group was 30.7 degrees, while it was 51.4 degrees for the second group this difference was significant at p<0.001. Also the mean value of shoulder abduction improvement for the first group was 34.1 degrees while it was 26.1 degrees for the second group. Patients from both groups reported a significant reduction in pain severity. It can be concluded that adding 500mg IV prednisolone for three consecutive days to the routine treatment may improve shoulder movements at shoulder external rotation and abduction which reduces disability caused by adhesive capsulitis.