NCT05104060

The Effects of Manual Therapy and Scapular Exercise for the Pectoralis Minor in Individuals With Shoulder Pain

Completed NA Last updated 23 March 2023

What this trial tests

NA trial testing pectoralis minor intervention group in Shoulder Pain in 100 participants. Completed in 22 March 2023.

Timeline

17 November 2021

Primary endpoint
12 August 2022

22 March 2023

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	100
Start date	17 November 2021
Primary completion	12 August 2022
Estimated completion	22 March 2023
Sites	2 locations across Taiwan

Drugs / interventions tested

• pectoralis minor intervention group
• shoulder strengthening group

Conditions studied

• Shoulder Pain — all drugs for Shoulder Pain →
• Shoulder Impingement — all drugs for Shoulder Impingement →
• Scapular Dyskinesis — all drugs for Scapular Dyskinesis →

Sponsor

National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Who can join

Adults 20 to 60, any sex, with Shoulder Pain or Shoulder Impingement. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Shoulder pain is the third common problem, after problems of spine. Abnormal scapular kinematics, so called scapular dyskinesis, is believed to be associated with shoulder pain. Studies showed that individuals with shoulder problems demonstrate less upward rotation, posterior tilt and external rotation during shoulder movement. The shortness of the pectoralis minor (PM) is one of the factors leading to scapular dyskinesis. Short pectoralis minor has been shown to prevent scapula from tilting posterior and rotating externally during shoulder motion. The decreased scapular posterior tilt and external rotation may decrease subacromial space and result in impingement. However, although many assessment methods have been used to assess PM tightness or shortness, no study has tested the validity of these testing methods. Moreover, although stretching exercises for PM have been shown to increase the PM length, previous studies found that PM stretching exercises did not restore scapular kinematics and did not further decrease pain and improve function. Shoulder pain and discomfort has also been reported during stretching. Therefore, rather than stretching exercise, other types of treatment that can specifically increase the PM length and restore scapular kinematics may be needed. Manual therapy could specifically increase the flexibility of PM, and scapular orientation exercises could improve scapular kinematics. These types of treatment may be better options. However, to our knowledge, no study has investigated whether manual therapy combined with scapular orientation exercises could improve scapular kinematics, pain and function. Therefore, the first part of this study is to investigate which tests for length or tightness of PM can predict the scapular dyskinesis. The second part of the study is to investigate the effects of manual therapy and scapular orientation training on PM length, scapular kinematics, pain, and function in subjects with shoulder pain. In the first part of the study, 67 healthy subjects will be recruited. In the second part, 62 patients with shoulder pain will be recruited and randomized into either a PM treatment group or a control group. While no treatment will be provided for the healthy subjects in the first part, subjects with shoulder pain in the second part will receive 12 sessions of treatment in 4-6weeks, with 30-40 minutes per session. Patients in the control group will receive general shoulder strengthening exercise, while patients in the PM treatment group will have additional manual therapy and scapular orientation exercise. The measures include tests of PM length, scapular kinematics in the first and second parts, and pain and shoulder disability were also additionally assessed in the second part.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial. Completed trials usually publish results within 12-18 months.