Clinical Outcomes of Transcatheter Arterial Embolization for Secondary Stiff Shoulder

Purpose: To assess the clinical outcomes of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) for secondary stiff shoulder (SSS).

Materials and methods: This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data performed between January 2017 and December 2019. This study comprised 25 patients (20 women and 5 men; median age, 49 years; range 27-59) with SSS resistant to conservative management during at least 3 months. The median time of stiffness was 12 months.

The etiology of SSS was postoperative in 14 patients (56%) and posttraumatic in the remaining 11 patients (44%). Periods of immobilization in all patients were associated. TAE was performed, and technical aspects, adverse events, changes for pain, and physical examination before and 6 months after TAE were assessed.

Results: Abnormal vessels were observed in 20 of 25 (80%) of the procedures. Transitory cutaneous erythema was noted in 4 patients treated after TAE. Significant differences were observed in the median pain visual analog scale reduction between before and 6 months after TAE (8 vs 2, P < .001). Shoulder mobility significantly improved in both flexion and abduction degrees between before and at 6 months after TAE in (70° vs 150°; P < .001). No symptoms of recurrence appeared.

Conclusions: TAE can result in pain reduction and mobility improvement in patients with SSS refractory to conservative therapy.

CITATION  J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2021 Apr;32(4):489-496. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2020.11.006. Epub 2021 Jan 19