Suprascapular nerve block for the treatment of frozen shoulder

AIMS The aim of our study was to compare the effects of suprascapular nerve block in patients with frozen shoulder and diabetes mellitus unresponsive to intraarticular steroid injections. SETTINGS AND DESIGN Ten patients without improvement of sign and symptoms after intraarticular injections were made a suprascapular nerve block. METHODS Pain levels and active range of movement of patients were recorded at initial attendance and after 1, 4, and 12 weeks. All patients' simple pain scores, total pain scores, and range of motion of their shoulders were improved significantly after suprascapular nerve block. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS In this study, the statistical analyses were performed by using the SPSS 8.0 program (SPSS Software, SPSS Inc., USA). To compare pre- and post-injection results of simple pain score, total pain score, shoulder abduction and external rotation, Wilcoxon test was used. RESULTS Patient's simple pain scores, total pain scores also abduction, external rotation and internal rotation angles were improved significantly after suprascapular nerve block. CONCLUSION Effective results after suprascapular nerve blockage was obtained for the treatment of refractory frozen shoulder cases.