Table 4.
Randomized control trials included in the literature review
| Authors | Study type | Year | Patients | Mean age | Follow-up (months) | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||||||
| Haahr et al33 | RCT | 2005 | 90 | 44 | 6–12 | ASD + physiotherapy | Physiotherapy – strengthening the stabilizers and decompressors of the shoulder | n/a | No statistically significant difference in CS No difference in mean pain and dysfunction score |
| Brox et al46 | RCT | 1993 | 125 | 48 | 6 | ASD + physiotherapy | Physiotherapy – supervised | Placebo – laser therapy | No difference in Neer score, VAS |
| Rahme et al32 | RCT | 1998 | 42 | 42 | 6 | Open acromioplasty+physiotherapy | Physiotherapy – strengthening and endurance training | n/a | VAS better in the surgical group |
| Peters andKohn31 | RCT | 1997 | 72 | 56 | 48 | Open acromioplasty+ASD + physiotherapy | Two week hospital stay: physiotherapy supported with NSAIDs and corticosteroid injections | n/a | No difference between the groups |
| Beard et al27 | RCT | 2017 | 313 | 53 | 6–12 | ASD + physiotherapy | Placebo – arthroscopy only + physiotherapy | No treatment | The OX and the CS showed no difference between decompression and arthroscopy only at 6 months and 1 year, but both surgical groups were better than no treatment at both timepoints. Similar findings observed for the other outcome measurements: PainDETECT, EQ-5D-3L Index, EQ VAS, HADS |
| Ketola et al22 | RCT | 2017 | 140 | 47.1 | 156 | ASD + physiotherapy | Physiotherapy – supervised | n/a | Self-reported pain and VAS; disability, working ability and pain at night (VAS), SDQ improved in both groups compared with preoperative findings, but no difference was found between the two groups. |
| Farfaras et al34 | RCT | 2018 | 95 | 45 | 30 | Open acromioplasty+ physiotherapy | ASD + physiotherapy | Physiotherapy – supervised | The strength improves in both surgical groups (statistically significant improvement only in the open acromioplasty group (P=0.003), but did not in the conservative group). CS improved (P<0.005) in the surgical groups only. The Watson and Sonnabend score did not show difference between groups (P=0.14) |
Abbreviations: ASD, arthroscopic subacromial decompression; CS, constant score; EQ-5D-3L, Index EuroQol 5 dimensions 3 levels; EQ VAS, EuroQol visual analog scale; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; OS, Oxford score; RCT, randomized clinical trial; SDQ, Shoulder Disability Questionnaire score.