Abstract
Objective
To investigate whether muscle energy technique (MET) to the thoracic spine decreases
the pain and disability associated with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS).
Design
Single-center, 3-arm, randomized controlled trial, single-blind, placebo control with
concealed allocation and a 12-month follow-up.
Setting
Private osteopathic practice.
Participants
Three groups of 25 participants (N=75) 40 years or older with SIS received allocated
intervention once a week for 15 minutes, 4 consecutive weeks.
Interventions
Participants were randomly allocated to MET to the thoracic spine (MET-only), MET
plus soft tissue massage (MET+STM), or placebo.
Main Outcome Measures
Primary outcome measure: Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire.
Secondary outcome measures: Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) questionnaire;
visual analog scale (VAS) (mm/100): current, 7-day average, and 4-week average; Patient-Specific
Functional Scale (PSFS); and Global Rating of Change (GROC). Measures recorded at
baseline, discharge, 4-week follow-up, 6 months, and 12 months. Also baseline and
discharge thoracic posture and range of motion (ROM) measured using an inclinometer.
Statistical analysis included mixed-effects linear regression model for DASH, SPADI,
VAS, PSFS, GROC, and thoracic posture and ROM.
Results
MET-only group demonstrated significantly greater improvement in pain and disability
(DASH, SPADI, VAS 7-day average) than placebo at discharge (mean difference, DASH=−8.4;
95% CI, −14.0 to −2.8; SPADI=−14.7; 95% CI, −23.0 to −6.3; VAS=−15.5; 95% CI, −24.5
to −6.5), 6 months (−11.1; 95% CI, −18.6 to −3.7; −14.9; 95% CI, −26.3 to −3.5; −14.1;
95% CI, −26.0 to −2.2), and 12 months (−13.4; 95% CI, −23.9 to−2.9; −19.0; 95% CI,
−32.4 to −5.7; −17.3; 95% CI, −30.9 to −3.8). MET+STM group also demonstrated greater
improvement in disability but not pain compared with placebo at discharge (DASH=−8.2;
95% CI, −14.0 to −2.3; SPADI=−13.5; 95% CI, −22.3 to −4.8) and 6 months (−9.0; 95%
CI, −16.9 to −1.2; −12.4; 95% CI, −24.3 to −0.5). For the PSFS, MET-only group improved
compared with placebo at discharge (1.3; 95% CI, 0.1-2.5) and 12 months (1.8; 95%
CI, 0.5-3.2); MET+STM at 12 months (1.7; 95% CI, 0.3-3.0). GROC: MET-only group improved
compared with placebo at discharge (1.5; 95% CI, 0.9-2.2) and 4 weeks (1.0; 95% CI,
0.1-1.9); MET+STM at discharge (1.2; 95% CI, 0.5-1.9) and 6 months (1.2; 95% CI, 0.1-1.3).
There were no differences between MET-only group and MET+STM, and no between-group
differences in thoracic posture or ROM.
Conclusions
MET of the thoracic spine with or without STM improved the pain and disability in
individuals 40 years or older with SIS and may be recommended as a treatment approach
for SIS.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
DASH (Disabilities of the Arm Shoulder and Hand), GROC (Global Rating of Change), HVLA (high-velocity low-amplitude), ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient), MCID (minimal clinically important difference), MET (muscle energy technique), PSFS (Patient-Specific Functional Scale), ROM (range of motion), SIS (shoulder impingement syndrome), SPADI (Shoulder Pain and Disability Index), STM (soft tissue massage), VAS (visual analog scale)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: March 21, 2022
Accepted:
March 15,
2022
Received in revised form:
March 9,
2022
Received:
October 18,
2021
Footnotes
Trial Registration: Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12618000845235.
Disclosures: none
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
