Radiotherapy for painful shoulder syndrome: a retrospective evaluation

We evaluated the efficacy of low-dose radiotherapy for painful shoulder syndrome from an orthopedic perspective.

Patients with painful shoulder syndrome were recruited for this retrospective clinical quality assessment from January 2011 to December 2017. Patients were treated with a linear accelerator or an orthovoltage device at individual doses of 0.5–1.0 Gy and total doses of 3.0–6.0 Gy. To assess response, we used the von Pannewitz score with five levels: “worsened,” “unaffected,” “improved,” “significantly improved,” and “symptom free.” “Good treatment success” was defined as “significantly improved” and “symptom free.” Within-group and between-group differences were statistically evaluated.

Of 236 recruited patients (150 women, 86 men; mean age 66.3 [range 31–96] years), 180 patients underwent radiotherapy with a linear accelerator and 56 with an orthovoltage device. Fractionation was 12 × 0.5 Gy in 120 patients, 6 × 0.5 Gy in 74, and 6 × 1 Gy in 42 patients. Treatments were completed in one series for 223 and in two series at least 6 weeks apart for 13 patients. Of the 236 patients, 163 patients (69.1%) agreed to be re-interviewed at a median of 10.5 (range 4–60) months after radiotherapy completion. Directly after radiotherapy, 30.9% (73 patients) had “good treatment success,” which had increased to 55.2% (90 patients) at follow-up.

Protracted pain improvement with low-dose radiotherapy is possible in painful shoulder syndrome. Patients with refractory pain because of subacromial syndrome or shoulder osteoarthritis should also be evaluated for radiotherapy.