Efficacy of ultrasound-guided intra-articular hyaluronic acid injection in the management of adhesive capsulitis: a randomized controlled trial.
Chih-Ya Chang, Ching-Ting Chen, Yung-Hsiang Lin and 3 others
PMID 42136070WHAT IT FOUND
Ultrasound-guided hyaluronic acid injections worked as well as supervised physical therapy for frozen shoulder stiffness.
Both groups saw similar, meaningful drops in pain and disability scores by 26 weeks, with no significant difference between the two treatments.
Key findings
01Both hyaluronic acid injection and supervised physical therapy produced significant within-group improvements in pain and function, but between-group differences did not reach statistical significance at any time point.
02Range of motion improved significantly in both groups across all measured parameters, with no consistent between-group advantage demonstrated.
03No adverse events were reported in either group, indicating both treatments were well tolerated.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was not blinded and lacked a sham control, which may introduce bias in patient-reported outcomes like SPADI scores. There was an imbalance in dropouts, with 5 participants lost from the rehabilitation group compared to 1 in the HA group, potentially introducing attrition bias. Baseline range of motion was numerically higher in the HA group, with active external rotation significantly better at baseline, which may have influenced the comparison of change scores. The sample size was modest (46 patients), and the study was powered only for the primary SPADI outcome, not for secondary range of motion measures.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was funded by the Teh-Tzer Study Group for Human Medical Research Foundation and TCI Co Ltd.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the numerical trends favoring the HA group (e.g., larger percentage reductions in pain scores) as evidence of superior efficacy. The study explicitly states that between-group differences did not reach statistical significance at any time point, meaning the treatments performed similarly.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →