Efficacy of therapeutic ultrasound in the treatment of chronic calcific shoulder tendinitis: a randomized trial.

Randomization was by shoulder, not by patient, and 6 patients received treatment on both shoulders, so whole-person outcomes such as HAQ-DI may be confounded. Calcification size was measured with two-dimensional ultrasound, not three-dimensional volume, so the true size change may be less certain. Only 46 patients (52 shoulders) completed, and the study measured outcomes immediately after treatment, so long-term benefit is unknown. The study excluded many other shoulder problems, including rotator cuff tear, bursitis, frozen shoulder, inflammatory disease, and recent shoulder therapy, so it applies only to the selected chronic calcific shoulder tendinitis group. Both groups received the same supervised therapeutic exercises, so the study cannot show what active therapeutic ultrasound would do without exercise.

Do not conclude that therapeutic ultrasound alone treats calcific shoulder tendinitis or reliably improves pain. Both groups received the same supervised therapeutic exercises, and the clearest between-group difference was calcification size; pain scores and shoulder range of motion did not show clear between-group differences.