Manipulation under anaesthesia for frozen shoulder.

Following manipulation of frozen shoulders under general anaesthesia, we reviewed 74 shoulders at an average of 3 weeks and again at an average of 33 months following the manipulation. We used an adjusted Constant score by excluding the abduction strength measurement. The maximum score was therefore 75 points. The average pre-manipulation score was 24.7 points. At 3 weeks after manipulation this score improved to 54.9 points. At the last follow-up (average 33 months) the score was 72.4 points. We have shown that manipulation under general anaesthesia speeds up recovery of frozen shoulders, and the range of movement improves rapidly.