Treatment of calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder by acetic acid iontophoresis: a double-blind randomized controlled trial

Leduc BE, Caya J, Tremblay S, Bureau NJ, Dumont M. Treatment of calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder by acetic acid iontophoresis: a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2003;84:1523–7. To assess the effects of acetic acid iontophoresis on the treatment of calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder. Double-blind randomized controlled trial. Ambulatory academic hospital in Quebec, Canada. Thirty-six subjects with a calcifying tendinitis of the shoulder. Subjects were randomized into 1 of 2 groups: physiotherapy during 6 weeks (10 sessions) plus acetic acid iontophoresis for the treatment group (n=18) and sham acetic acid iontophoresis for the control group (n=18). The Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), shoulder range of motion (ROM); and radiologic evaluation of shoulder calcifications. Nine patients dropped out, leaving 27 assessable subjects for analysis. Interim analysis showed that, in both groups, treatment led to improvement, as measured by the SPADI score ( P=.004), ROM of the shoulder for abduction ( P