Short Wave Diathermy (SWD) Therapy in Patients with Adhesive Capsulitis of Shoulder

Abstract

Introduction: There are several options for the management of adhesive capsulitis. Short Wave Diathermy (SWD) is also an important option for adhesive capsulitis management, but very few data are available to support SWD use in adhesive capsulitis. Therefore, we studied the effectiveness of SWD to improve the pain and range of motions in frozen shoulder. Methods: A total 56 patients with adhesive capsulitis were selected in this randomized controlled trial for a study period of 6 months. The subjects were divided into two intervention groups; one group with conventional treatment plan plus SWD and second group with conventional treatment alone. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) with Tenderness Grading (TG) and Shoulder Pain And Disability Index scoring (SPADI) were used to measure the pain and disability, The SPSS (version 20) was used for the statistical analysis; differences between the intervention groups were determined by independent t-test. Results: Among 56 patients, male and female gender were matched (p>0.05) and male to female ratio was 1.66: 1. Only one patient had both shoulders involvement, 48.2% of subjects had right sided and 50.0% had left sided involvement. There were 92.7% of patients who had localized pain and only 7.3% had radiating pain. About 56.4% of the patients had evening time of onset of the pain and 43.6% at night. Most of the patients in both groups had constant and intermittent type of pain, 47.5% and 45.5% respectively, and other types were sharp and dull. Significant differences were observed in VAS, TG and SPADI analysis in between Group A and Group B at week 2, 4 and 6 (P<0.05), whereas initial follow-up was non-significant in VAS and TG analysis (p>0.05). Conclusion: We conclude that when SWD is combined with conventional management of adhesive capsulitis, it gives better reduction in shoulder pain and disability.