Clinical Efficacy of Small Needle Knife Therapy on Stage I-II Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder is a kind of aseptic inflammatory disease of the shoulder caused by strain, trauma, and other reasons, resulting in shoulder joint pain and limited function. The protocol presented here demonstrates the operation of a small needle knife in treating frozen shoulders, including patient management, material preparation, positioning, operation, and postoperative care. The purpose of this protocol is to relieve the pain and functional limitations and improve the living ability of patients with frozen shoulders. In our study, 76 stage I-II frozen shoulder patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into a control group and a treatment group (n=38). Patients in the control group received functional exercise, while the treatment group received small needle knife therapy with functional exercise. The visual analogue scores (VAS), the Constant and Murley scores (CMS), and the thickness of the coracohumeral ligament (CHL) under ultrasound were evaluated. After small needle knife therapy, the VAS score was significantly lower in the treatment group (5.11 ± 0.89) than in the control group (5.49 ± 0.65; t=-2.065, p<0.05); the CMS score was significantly higher in the treatment group (64.72 ± 4.78) than in the control group (60.97 ± 6.00; t=2.947, p<0.05); the CHL thickness was significantly decreased in the treatment group (2.38 ± 0.36) than in the control group (2.57 ± 0.42; t=-2.117, p<0.05). These results indicate that the small needle knife significantly relieved the pain symptoms, improved the shoulder function, reduced the CHL thickness, and improved the quality of life and, therefore, had significant therapeutic efficacy in stage I-II frozen shoulder patients.