Objectives: To describe the immediate effects of diacutaneous fibrolysis on pain and mobility in patients suffering from painful shoulder, and to assess the ability of the placebo technique to blind participants to group allocation.
Design: A double-blind before-after randomized placebo-controlled pilot study.
Setting: Two public centres of Primary Health Care of the Spanish National Health System.
Participants: Fifty patients (29 women, 21 men) with a diagnosis of painful shoulder of subacromial origin were included.
Intervention: Participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups. The intervention group (N = 25) was actually treated with diacutaneous fibrolysis, while the placebo group (N = 25) was treated with placebo diacutaneous fibrolysis.
Measurements: Active range of motion (flexion, abduction, extension, external and internal rotation) and pain intensity in the hand-behind-back position were measured. Participants were also asked about their perception in terms of comfort of the technique and results obtained.
Results: Between-groups differences were significant in flexion (mean 11.4 degrees; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.7-17.1), abduction (mean 7.2 degrees; 95% CI 2.0-12.5) and internal rotation movements (mean 3.1 cm; 95% CI 0.1-6.1). There were no significant differences between groups in pain intensity, extension or external rotation movements. The placebo technique showed its ability to blind participants to group allocation. None of the participants suffered any adverse effects from diacutaneous fibrolysis.
Conclusion: Diacutaneous fibrolysis may be an effective and safe therapeutic option to improve active range of motion in patients suffering from painful shoulder.