Therapeutic Exercise and Orthopedic Manual Therapy for Impingement Syndrome: a Systematic Review

Objective: To review randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of therapeutic exercise and orthopedic manual therapy for the treatment of impingement syndrome.

Data Source: Reports up to October 2002 were located from MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), the TRIP database, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) using "shoulder" and "clinical trial"/"randomized controlled trial" as search terms.

Study Selection: Studies were included if (1) they were a randomized controlled trial; (2) they were related to impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tendinitis, or bursitis; (3) one of the treatments included therapeutic exercise or manual therapy.

Data Extraction: Two independent observers reviewed the methodological quality of the studies using an assessment tool developed by the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Injuries Group. Differences were resolved by consensus.

Data Synthesis: Seven trials met our inclusion criteria. After consensus, the mean methodological score for all studies was 13.9 +/- 2.4 (of 24). Four studies of 7, including the 3 trials with the best methodological score (67%), suggested some benefit of therapeutic exercise or manual therapy compared with other treatments such as acromioplasty, placebo, or no intervention.

Conclusions: There is limited evidence to support the efficacy of therapeutic exercise and manual therapy to treat impingement syndrome. More methodologically sound studies are needed to further evaluate these interventions.