The Different Effects of 2 Consecutive Glenohumeral Injections of Corticosteroids on Pain Reduction and Range-of-Motion Improvement in Frozen-Phase Frozen Shoulder

To investigate the improvement in frozen-phase frozen shoulder (FS) patients’ pain and shoulder mobility, including passive forward elevation (FE), external rotation (ER), and internal rotation (IR), after 2 consecutive intra-articular corticosteroid (IACS) injections. This retrospective cohort study was performed from July 2020 to November 2023. All patients with frozen-phase FS received 2 ultrasound-guided IACS injections at 6-week intervals. FE, ER, IR, and visual analog scale scores were measured at each follow-up consultation with a 6-week interval. A total of 134 patients finished the study. There were varying degrees of change in pain relief and range-of-motion improvement between each IACS injection. FE and IR improved significantly between the first and second injections (P = 5.2 × 10−24 and 1.1 × 10−21, respectively), whereas ER only improved significantly after the second injection (P