Effectiveness of telerehabilitation programme following surgery in shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS): study protocol for a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial

BACKGROUND Shoulder pain is common in society, with high prevalence in the general population. Shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) is the most frequent cause. Patients suffer pain, muscle weakness and loss of movement in the affected joint. Initial treatment is predominantly conservative. The surgical option has high success rates and is often used when conservative strategy fails. Traditional physiotherapy and post-operative exercises are needed for the recovery of joint range, muscle strength, stability and functionality. Telerehabilitation programmes have shown positive results in some orthopaedic conditions after surgery. Customized telerehabilitation intervention programmes should be developed to recover shoulder function after SIS surgery. The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a telerehabilitation intervention compared with usual care in patients after subacromial decompression surgery. METHODS We will compare an intervention group receiving videoconferences and a telerehabilitation programme to a control group receiving traditional physiotherapy intervention in a single-blind, randomized controlled non-inferiority trial study design. DISCUSSION Through this study, we will further develop our preliminary data set and practical experience with the telerehabilitation programmes to evaluate their effectiveness and compare this with traditional intervention. We will also explore patient satisfaction and cost-effectiveness. Patient enrolment is ongoing. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02909920 . 14 September 2016.