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Efficacy and Safety of Spa Treatment in Chronic Shoulder Pain Due to Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy

Spa Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Shoulder Pain Due to Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy: ROTATHERM, a Large Randomized Multicentre Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01692249
Acronym
ROTATHERM
Enrollment
186
Registered
2012-09-25
Start date
2009-03-31
Completion date
2011-05-31
Last updated
2012-09-25

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Self Efficacy

Keywords

chronic shoulder pain, rotator cuff tendinopathy, sap therapy, balneotherapy

Brief summary

To determine whether spa therapy has a beneficial effect on pain and disability in the management of shoulder pain due to chronic rotator cuff lesions, this multicentre randomized prospective clinical trial includes patients with shoulder pain due to chronic degenerative rotator cuff tendinopathy who attend French spa resorts as outpatients. Subjects are randomized into two groups: immediate spa therapy (18 days of standardized treatment) and control (spa therapy delayed for 6 months). All patients continue usual treatments during the 6-month follow-up period. The main endpoint is the mean change in the DASH score at 6 months. Secondary endpoints are the mean change in SF-36 components, treatments used, and tolerance. The effect size of spa therapy is calculated and the proportion of patients reaching minimal clinically important improvement (MCII) is compared between groups.

Interventions

OTHERimmediate spa therapy

, with 18 days of therapy over 3 weeks; The standardized shoulder therapy program was designed by experienced spa therapy physicians. Spa mineral water and treatments are approved and controlled by the French authorities. Spa treatment included: bubble buses at 36°C for 15 minutes, applications of mineral matured mud at 45°C to the shoulder for 20 minutes, mineral hydrojet sessions at 39°C for 7 minutes and general mobilization in a collective mineral water pool at 35°C for 20 minutes supervised by a registered physiotherapist.

Sponsors

Association Francaise pour la Recherche Thermale
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* chronic shoulder pain (symptom duration of more than 6 months) due to primary or secondary tendinopathy of the rotator cuff. In cases of rotator cuff tendinopathy related to traumatic events, the trauma was required to have happened at least 6 months previously. Corticosteroid treatment for concomitant disease could be continued at a stable dose. Shoulder x-rays within the previous 18 months were required in all cases.

Exclusion criteria

* shoulder pain related to neurological or vascular disorders or neoplasms; referred pain from internal organs; systemic rheumatic conditions; inability to complete questionnaires because of cognitive impairment, or language difficulty; contraindication (immune deficiency, evolving cardiovascular conditions, cancer, infection, non-equilibrated diabetes mellitus) or intolerance to any aspect of spa treatment; spa treatment within the previous 6 months; steroid injection within the previous 3 months; physiotherapy in the previous month; changes in non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) administration within the previous 5 days or in other analgesic drug use within the previous 12 hours.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
changes in the Disability of arm, shoulder and hand score (DASH) between baseline and 6 monthsself-reported patient outcomesThe domains explored by the Quick DASH are: (1) physical arm, shoulder or hand activity problems (6 items); (2) severity of pain and tingling (2 items); (3) social activities, work, and sleep (3 items). Each item has five response options, ranging from 1, ''no difficulty or no symptom,'' to 5, ''unable to perform activity or very severe symptom.'' If at least 10 of the 11 items are completed, a score ranging from 0 (no disability) to 100 (most severe disability) can be calculated \[(sum of n responses/n) - 1\] x 25.the effect size and the percentage of patients reaching Minimal Clinical Important Improvement was determined

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
changes in the Short-form 36 questionnaire (SF-36) between baseline and 6 monthsself-reported patient outcomesThe SF-36 is the most widely used generic instrument for assessing physical, mental, and psychosocial health based on eight scales and two component summary scales (Physical and Mental Component Summary) containing a total of 36 items
adverse and severe adverse eventsrecording of SAE and AEall SAE and AE were recorded during the spa therapy and the 6-month follow-up
changes in treatment consumption between baseline and 6 monthsAll treatments were self-recorded by patients.analgesics, analgesics plus NSAIDs, rehabilitation and topical medications were recorded during the 6-month follow-up

Countries

France

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026