ARTISAN
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Acute rehabilitation following traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation
IRAS ID
245863
Contact name
Rebecca Kearney
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 3 months, 30 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Shoulder dislocations occur when the upper end of the arm bone is forced out of its joint socket because of a traumatic event. It is common and results in pain, disability and decreased function.\n\nCurrently in the UK, some hospitals offer a single session of advice and some offer a course of physiotherapy. The UK guidelines currently say a course of physiotherapy ‘may be helpful’; whilst other national guidelines say advice alone is needed. We plan to perform a study across 30 UK hospitals to compare a single session of advice versus a course of physiotherapy for patients who have dislocated their shoulder.\n\nAll adult patients with a dislocated shoulder managed without an operation will be screened. All participants who are eligible and consent to take part will be allocated by chance to either a single session of advice or the same session followed by a course of physiotherapy, across 30 UK hospitals, including 478 participants part. Both treatments are widely used, and clinical teams across the UK will be familiar with both. \n\nThe primary aim is to compare the two treatment groups for differences in the Oxford Shoulder Instability Score six months after injury. This score measures function from the patients’ perspective. Improvements in functional outcome and quality of life as well as complications and resource use will be collected at six weeks, three, six and 12 months after taking part in the study.\n\nThe results are planned to be presented at national conferences, published in high quality journals and social media outlets. Lay team members will be supported to produce lay summaries of the research to be disseminated across the trial sites and individual trial participants.
Summary of Results
The shoulder dislocates (comes out of its socket joint) when the upper end of the arm bone is forced out during an injury. After the bone is put back in its socket, most people are managed with physiotherapy.
We compared advice with a physiotherapist to advice and a course of physiotherapy for people who had a shoulder dislocation.
Adults with a shoulder dislocation, who were not having surgery, were asked to take part. All consenting adults were assigned, by chance, to either a single session of advice or the same session followed by physiotherapy.
Between 14th November 2018 and 14th March 2022 we collected data on 482 people, from 41 NHS sites across the UK. At six months there was little evidence that additional physiotherapy was better, when compared to advice alone.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
18/WA/0236
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion