Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of proprioceptive exercises on shoulder proprioception, range of motion, pain, muscle strength, and function in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome.
Design: Sixty-one patients with subacromial impingement syndrome participated in this prospective, single-blind randomized controlled trial. All patients were randomly divided into two groups: control group (conventional physiotherapy, n = 30) and intervention group (proprioceptive exercise and conventional physiotherapy, n = 31). The primary outcome measures were sense of kinesthesia and active and passive repositioning for proprioception at 0 degrees and 10 degrees external rotation at 12 wks. The secondary outcome measures were pain at rest, at night, and during activities of daily living with the visual analog scale (0-10 cm), the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff index, the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons index, range of motion, and isometric muscle strength at both 6 and 12 wks.
Results: After treatment, significant improvement was found in range of motion, pain, isometric muscle strength, kinesthesia at 0 degrees external rotation, and functional tests in both groups. The intervention group showed a significant improvement in kinesthesia at 10 degrees external rotation and active and passive repositioning at 10 degrees external rotation. When groups were compared, there were no statistically significant differences in any of the parameters at 12 wks.
Conclusions: Although proprioceptive exercises may provide better proprioceptive acuity, no additional positive effect on other clinical parameters was observed.