Recent Resources on Frozen Shoulder/Adhesive Capsulitis (Within 5 Years)
The most recent and highest-quality resource is the 2025 Korean Clinical Practice Guidelines for Primary Frozen Shoulder 1, which provides comprehensive, evidence-based recommendations using the GRADE framework for both diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of adhesive capsulitis.
Key Recent Guidelines and Resources
Primary Guideline Resource (2025)
The Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diagnosis and Non-Surgical Treatment of Primary Frozen Shoulder published in Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine 1 represents the most current evidence-based guideline. This guideline:
- Systematically reviewed literature from four major databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and KMbase)
- Formulated 16 key clinical questions using the PICO framework
- Applied GRADE methodology for recommendation strength
- Addresses both diagnostic approaches and treatment strategies specifically for primary frozen shoulder
Additional High-Quality Recent Resources (2024-2026)
Comprehensive Review Articles:
- A 2026 comprehensive review in The Iowa Orthopaedic Journal 2 synthesizes current understanding of pathogenesis, diagnosis, and clinical management, emphasizing stage-based treatment approaches
- A 2024 German radiological review in Radiologie 3 provides updated imaging protocols and diagnostic criteria
Emerging Treatment Modalities:
- Adhesive Capsulitis Embolization (ACE): A 2026 article in Seminars in Interventional Radiology 4 describes this novel minimally invasive endovascular treatment targeting pathological neovascularization
- Ultrasound-guided interventions: A 2024 study in Journal of Ultrasound 5 demonstrates efficacy of glenohumeral hydrodistension with physical therapy, particularly when diagnosed before phase 2
Imaging Guidelines:
- The 2025 ACR Appropriateness Criteria for Acute Shoulder Pain 6 provides updated imaging algorithms, though focused broadly on shoulder pain rather than specifically adhesive capsulitis
Clinical Relevance of Recent Evidence
The 2025 Korean guidelines 1 specifically identify:
- Risk factors: Diabetes, thyroid disease, and dyslipidemia significantly increase frozen shoulder risk
- Diagnostic approach: Ultrasound and MRI should be adjunctive tools alongside clinical diagnosis, not independent diagnostic methods
- Treatment hierarchy: Noninvasive approaches (medications, physical modalities, exercises) followed by intra-articular steroid injections, with hydrodilatation as an effective option for refractory cases
Important caveat: While frozen shoulder is often self-limiting, the guidelines emphasize that some patients experience long-term disabilities, making early intervention crucial 1.
The 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis 7 adds evidence that scapulothoracic-targeted physical therapy significantly improves shoulder flexion ROM and functional disability (SPADI scores) compared to conventional therapy alone, with high GRADE certainty for disability outcomes.