Ultrasound-guided intra-articular steroid injection or ultrasound-guided suprascapular notch steroid injection for frozen shoulder? A sequential comparative study with a 1-year follow-up.

Sahu, Dipit; Choudhary, Himanshu S; Gaikwad, Neha; Gupta, Sonam · Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol · 2026

prospective_cohort · Level II

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Abstract

PURPOSE: We aimed to compare the improvements in pain at 1-month and in pain and functional outcomes at 1-year between the ultrasound (USG)- guided suprascapular notch (SSN) steroid injections and the USG-guided intra-articular (IA) steroid injections in the treatment of frozen shoulder. METHODS: Two sequential groups were compared: the first group underwent USG-guided SSN steroid injections (SSN group, n = 29), and the second group underwent USG-guided IA steroid injections (IA group, n = 35). RESULTS: At 1 month, significantly greater proportion of patients had > 50% improvement in pain in the IA group [94%(n = 33] than in the SSN group [72%(n = 21), p = 0.03]. At 1-year, the SSN and IA groups did not differ in the Oxford shoulder score or the visual analogue scale pain score. CONCLUSION: USG-guided IA steroid injection offers superior pain relief than USG-guided SSN steroid injection in the short-term in treatment of frozen shoulder.