Open Access

Efficacy of manual therapy on shoulder pain and function in patients with rotator cuff injury: A systematic review and meta‑analysis

  • Authors:
    • Shuang Liu
    • Lin Chen
    • Qi Shi
    • Yide Fang
    • Weiwei Da
    • Chunchun Xue
    • Xiaofeng Li
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: April 11, 2024     https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2024.1778
  • Article Number: 89
  • Copyright: © Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

To critically evaluate the effects of manual therapy (MT) on pain and functional improvement in patients with rotator cuff injury (RCI), a systematic review of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on MT for RCI was conducted in the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Web of Science, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan‑fang Data, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature database from inception to March 28, 2023. A total of 1,110 participants from 24 eligible RCTs were included in the analysis. Compared with placebo, MT could not effectively relieve pain [standardized mean difference (SMD)=‑0.25; 95% CI: ‑0.51 to 0.01; P=0.06], although its impact on functional improvement appears limited (SMD=0.20; 95% CI: ‑0.09 to 0.49; P=0.18). Combining MT with exercise had significant advantages over exercise alone, as combined therapy contributed to both pain reduction (SMD=0.36; 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.64; P=0.01) and functional enhancement (SMD=0.32; 95% CI: 0.11 to 0.52; P=0.002). Furthermore, MT combined with multimodal physiotherapy showed additional benefits in pain reduction (mean difference=1.57; 95% CI: 0.18 to 2.96; P=0.03) and functional improvement (SMD=0.77; 95% CI: 0.43 to 1.12; P<0.0001) compared with multimodal physiotherapy alone. These findings highlight the superior pain alleviation and functional improvement provided by MT when combined with exercise or physiotherapy. Consequently, MT has emerged as a pivotal component of therapeutic intervention for RCI.
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Copy and paste a formatted citation
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Spandidos Publications style
Liu S, Chen L, Shi Q, Fang Y, Da W, Xue C and Li X: Efficacy of manual therapy on shoulder pain and function in patients with rotator cuff injury: A systematic review and meta‑analysis. Biomed Rep 20: 89, 2024
APA
Liu, S., Chen, L., Shi, Q., Fang, Y., Da, W., Xue, C., & Li, X. (2024). Efficacy of manual therapy on shoulder pain and function in patients with rotator cuff injury: A systematic review and meta‑analysis. Biomedical Reports, 20, 89. https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2024.1778
MLA
Liu, S., Chen, L., Shi, Q., Fang, Y., Da, W., Xue, C., Li, X."Efficacy of manual therapy on shoulder pain and function in patients with rotator cuff injury: A systematic review and meta‑analysis". Biomedical Reports 20.6 (2024): 89.
Chicago
Liu, S., Chen, L., Shi, Q., Fang, Y., Da, W., Xue, C., Li, X."Efficacy of manual therapy on shoulder pain and function in patients with rotator cuff injury: A systematic review and meta‑analysis". Biomedical Reports 20, no. 6 (2024): 89. https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2024.1778