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Fifty-eight patients with the diagnosis of primary frozen shoulder were independently examined by 3 surgeons for evidence of Dupuytren's disease. The disease was found in 52% (30/58) of the patients reviewed. These figures were compared with previously reported figures for a population of similar age. This showed that Dupuytren's disease is 8.27 (95% CI, 6.25-11.2) times more common in patients with frozen shoulder than in the general population; the difference between the two was highly statistically significant (P < .001, chi(2) test). We discuss the literature on the association between frozen shoulder and Dupuytren's disease and the implications of such a high proportion of patients sharing these two conditions.

Posterior positional dislocation is a form of atraumatic posterior recurrent dislocation commonly presenting in late teenage years. It has been an observation of ours that patients with posterior positional dislocation may have a small skin dimple, or tether, over the posteromedial deltoid of both shoulders. Fourteen consecutive patients with an established diagnosis of recurrent posterior positional dislocation were taken from our diagnostic database and reviewed along with 14 age- and sex-matched controls. For each patient and control, a diagnostic battery of clinical signs of instability was recorded and a photograph taken of the posterior aspect of the shoulder. The posterior dimple sign was associated with posterior instability with a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 92%. The clinical association of a posterior skin dimple and posterior recurrent positional dislocation has not been recognized before. This feature is discussed and the literature is reviewed.

Twenty-five patients with primary adhesive capsulitis underwent an arthroscopic release of the capsule of the shoulder joint. They were reviewed after a mean of 14.8 months (range, 3-40 months). Night pain and awakening were a feature in all 25 patients preoperatively but were only found in 3 postoperatively. There was marked improvement in pain from a preoperative visual analog scale score of 3.1 to a postoperative visual analog scale score of 12.6 on a scale of 15. Passive movement of the joint improved significantly, with mean passive elevation changing from 73.7 degrees preoperatively to 163 degrees postoperatively, mean passive external rotation changing from 10.6 degrees preoperatively to 46.8 degrees postoperatively, and passive internal rotation improving by a mean of 9 levels. The mean preoperative Constant score of 25.3 improved to 75.5 postoperatively, and the Constant score adjusted for age and gender averaged 91%. All patients completed the Short Form-36 questionnaire at their review, revealing a norm-based physical summary score of 48.7, falling within 1 SD of a normal population sample. This arthroscopic surgical technique is derived from the open surgical release. It is founded upon an understanding of the pathology of this condition. It appears to yield rapid relief of pain and dramatic improvement in movement and function in this painful and otherwise protracted condition.

Over a 5-year period, 75 shoulders that met Codman's criteria for primary frozen shoulder were treated. Nine patients improved with nonoperative treatment, and the remaining 66 patients underwent manipulation under anesthesia. The shoulders in 41 patients successfully released with manipulation. Those in 25 failed to release with manipulation, and therefore, these patients underwent open surgical release of the contracted shoulder. We reviewed the cases of all of the surgically treated patients at 19.52 months' average follow-up, using the history and clinical examination technique recommended by the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons. The surgical findings in this group of 25 patients showed a consistent alteration in the rotator interval and coracohumeral ligament. The rotator interval was obliterated, and the coracohumeral ligament was transformed into a tough contracted band. The histology of this contracture was examined in 12 patients and consisted of a dense matrix of type III collagen populated with fibroblasts and myofibroblasts. The contracted coracohumeral ligament was excised with immediate release of the external rotation deficit. Pain scores on visual analogue scale improved from 8.28 to 2.0. The average score for function, with a maximum score of 30, improved from 6.08 to 18.9. Twenty patients had excellent or good results, and 3 had fair results. The shoulders of 2 patients failed to improve: 1 was an insulin-dependent patient with diabetes, and 1 had severe bilateral Dupuytren's contractures. The results in the patients without diabetes were very satisfactory, with visual analogue scale scores of pain decreasing from 8.4 to 1.1, function increasing from 6.4 to 20.1, flexion increasing from an average of 96° to an average of 131°, and external rotation increasing from an average of 10.0° to an average of 46.7°. Surgical release of frozen shoulder is a useful option in those few patients with severe disease whose shoulders fail to release with manipulation under anesthesia. Caution should be used in insulin-dependent patients with diabetes. (J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2001;10:353-7.)