Arthroscopic capsular release and rehabilitation for primary and secondary shoulder periarthritis

Abstract EN

Objective : to determine the efficacy of arthroscopic capsular release and its effect on time course for shoulder stiffness in cases of primary and secondary shoulder stiffness, and also to determine the role of postoperative physiotherapy and Rehabilitation program for improving of outcome of arthroscopy.

Methodology : we have prospectively evaluated 27 patients who have had arthroscopic capsular release for primary frozen shoulder (14 patients) or secondary to rotator cuff partial tear, trauma, arthritis and post surgery like arthroplasty (13 patients) The Oxford shoulder score was recorded pre and at 6 months post surgery with postoperative physiotherapy and Rehabilitation program.

Arthroscopic capsular release was done Results : All patients showed improvement in symptoms following surgery.

No procedure related complication occurred.

Some patients (5 patients) showed transient flaring up of pain in early postoperative period, which improved with time.

Results were excellent in 11 cases (45.83 %), satisfactory in 12 cases (50 %) and unsatisfactory in only one case (4.16 %).

The patient who had an unsatisfactory outcome had persistent stiffness Conclusions : Arthroscopic capsular release is a safe and effective procedure for treatment of shoulder stiffness in patients resistant to non-operative treatment particularly to alleviate pain and restore a functional ROM.

The primary gain is the improvement in the range of movement.

However, some patients may complain of persistent discomfort especially in cases of arthritis.

For postsurgical stiffness, arthroscopic release improves range of motion with postoperative physiotherapy and Rehabilitation program but the shoulder often remains painful.

Other related or underlying intra-articular pathologies can be treated at the same procedure.