SynthesisMedicine2016
Steroid Injection Versus Physiotherapy for Patients With Adhesive Capsulitis of the Shoulder: A PRIMSA Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rehabilitation of Frozen Shoulder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Multifactorial Interventions.Pain research & management · 2026Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Clinical Validated and Potential miRNA Markers Related to the Efficacy of Fluoropyrimidine Drugs.Disease markers · 2022Pooled it
- The Effect of Diacerein on Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials with Trial Sequential Analysis.Journal of diabetes research · 2020Pooled it
- Effectiveness of corticosteroid injections in adhesive capsulitis of shoulder: A meta-analysis.Medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Surgical treatments compared with early structured physiotherapy in secondary care for adults with primary frozen shoulder: the UK FROST three-arm RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Trial
- Adhesive capsulitis embolization: a narrative review.Skeletal radiology · 2026Review
- Outcome comparison of lower trapezius tendon transfer and arthroscopic rotator cuff tear repair using muscle advancement for massive rotator cuff tear: a systematic review.Clinics in shoulder and elbow · 2025Review
- Effective treatment of hydroplasty injections and immediate physical therapy for glenohumeral adhesive capsulitis: a retrospective clinical analysis.JSES international · 2025Article
- Proteomics and phosphoproteomics to study Tuina reverses capsule fibrosis in frozen shoulder: a research report based on rats.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Evidence for Combining Conservative Treatments for Adhesive Capsulitis.Ochsner journal · 2024Review
- Inertial Sensors and Pressure Pain Threshold to Evaluate People with Primary Adhesive Capsulitis: Comparison with Healthy Controls and Effects of a Physiotherapy Protocol.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2023Article
- Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles inhibit shoulder stiffness via let-7a/Tgfbr1 axis.Bioactive materials · 2022Article
- Factors related to initial treatment for adhesive capsulitis in the medicare population.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Role of suprascapular nerve block in idiopathic frozen shoulder treatment: a clinical trial survey.Clinics in shoulder and elbow · 2022Article
- Non-Surgical and Rehabilitative Interventions in Patients with Frozen Shoulder: Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews.Journal of pain research · 2022Review
- MR Imaging Biomarkers for Clinical Impairment and Disease Progression in Patients with Shoulder Adhesive Capsulitis: A Prospective Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Hydrodilatation with corticosteroids is the most effective conservative management for frozen shoulder.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2021Review
- Frozen shoulder: overview of clinical presentation and review of the current evidence base for management strategies.Future science OA · 2020Review
- Article
- 'Frozen shoulder' is ill-defined. How can it be described better?EFORT open reviews · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To compare the effect of steroid injection and physiotherapy for patients with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder (ACS).An electronic search was performed on Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane library, and reference lists were also reviewed for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing steroid injection and physiotherapy for patients with ACS. The quality of included studies were assessed using PEDro scale. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used for comparisons. The primary outcome was functional improvement.Nine RCTs including 453 patients were identified. From 6-7 weeks to 24-26 weeks postintervention, no superiority was noted in favor of either steroid injection or physiotherapy for functional improvement (SMD 0.28; 95% CI -0.01-0.58; P = 0.06) or pain relief (SMD -0.10; 95% CI -0.70-0.50; P = 0.75). Steroid injection provided more improvement in passive external rotation at 24 to 26 weeks (3 studies, SMD 0.42; 95% CI 0.11-0.72; P = 0.007) but not at 6 to 7 weeks (4 studies, SMD 0.63; 95% CI 0.36-0.89; P = 0.32) or 12 to 16 weeks (3 studies, SMD -0.07; 95% CI -0.79-0.65; P = 0.85). Steroid injection was as safe as physiotherapy for patients with ACS (risk ratio 0.94; 95% CI 0.67-1.31).Both steroid injection and physiotherapy are equally effective for patients with ACS. One steroid injection might be the 1st choice for ACS. Results should be interpreted with caution due to the heterogeneity among the studies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.