Little is known about the mid-term results of nonsurgical treatment for shoulder osteoarthritis (OA), especially in a Chinese population. This study sought to determine the efficacy of nonsurgical management in older patients with shoulder OA. A total of 129 conservatively treated unilateral shoulder OA patients who were older than 65 years were evaluated prospectively at the initial office visit and then subsequently at 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months later. During the 36-month follow-up period, all patients could receive conventional therapy, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication, corticosteroid injection, sodium hyaluronate, and education, at the discretion of treating physicians. Some patients received physiotherapy, rehabilitation training, and a shoulder strap to improve the range of motion and muscular strength training from a physical therapist. Parameters measured included comparative effectiveness of each therapeutic method, visual analog scale (VAS), Simple Shoulder Test (SST), and Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36) scores. At 3-year follow-up, most patients had a significant increase from their pretreatment values in pain, self-assessed shoulder function, mental health, and 5 of 8 SF-36 domains. The study showed a decline in SST and VAS at 6 and 12 months after an initial ascent at 3 months, and then it was rescued and continued at 3-year follow-up. Combined therapy could improve symptoms significantly. This study suggests that a conservative approach may be more appropriate and can produce satisfactory mid-term outcomes in selected cases. The findings of this study suggest that conservative treatments should be extended for longer than 12 months before the decision regarding shoulder arthroplasty is made. [Orthopedics. 2016; 39(4):e634-e641.].
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