Evaluating the clinical effects of a dynamic shoulder orthosis.

Background: Shoulder orthoses reduce the gravitational pull on the shoulder by providing an upward force to the arm, which can decrease shoulder pain caused by stress on the glenohumeral structures.

Objective: In this interventional study, the clinical effects of a recently developed dynamic shoulder orthosis were assessed in 10 patients with chronic shoulder pain. The shoulder orthosis provides an upward force to the arm with 2 elastic bands. These bands are arranged to statically balance the arm, such that the supportive force is always directed toward the glenohumeral joint and shoulder movements are not impeded.

Study design: Clinical effect study.

Methods: The study population was provided with a dynamic shoulder orthosis for 2 weeks. In the week before the orthosis fitting, the participants had no intervention. The primary outcome measures were the mean shoulder pain scores before and during the intervention, and the distance between the humeral head and the acromion without and with orthosis.

Results: Ultrasound evaluation showed that the shoulder orthosis resulted in a reduction of the distance between the acromion and humeral head at different levels of arm support. In addition, it was demonstrated that the mean shoulder pain scores (range 0-10) decreased from 3.6 to 3 (in rest) and from 5.3 to 4.2 (during activities) after 2 weeks of orthosis use. In general, patients were satisfied with the weight, safety, ease in adjusting, and effectiveness of the orthosis.

Conclusions: The results of this study show that the orthosis has the potential to reduce shoulder complaints in patients with chronic shoulder pain.