Study: extra physiotherapy no better than self-management for shoulder dislocation
Not everyone who suffers a shoulder dislocation needs an extra physiotherapy programme, an NIHR-supported study found.
Researchers in the ARTISAN study compared self-management advice from a physiotherapist, such as education and home exercises, with the same advice plus extra physiotherapy.
They found that both groups had similar shoulder function, the ability to carry out everyday tasks, after 6 months and a similar number of complications after 12 months.
The findings show that not everyone with a shoulder dislocation needs an extra physiotherapy programme, as long as there is a way for people to self-refer if they are not recovering as expected.
The study was carried out at 40 UK hospitals with 482 people who had a single dislocated shoulder for the first time, including 18 at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, 41 at Milton Keynes Hospital and 14 at Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital.
