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CompletedNCT06953895Updated May 1, 2025

The Immediate Effect of Mulligan's Mobilization With Movement on Shoulder Girdle' Pain, Range of Motion and Muscle Activity, in Subjects With Shoulder Impingement Syndrome

An interventional study of Mulligan's Mobilization With Movement and Active Mobilization in Shoulder Impingement Syndrome, sponsored by Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto. Completed at 1 site in Portugal. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-05-01.

Sponsored by Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 2 years 3 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Jan 2023, registered Apr 2025).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
24
Allocation
Randomized
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The aim of present study was to evaluate the immediate effect of Mulligan's mobilization with movement on shoulder girdle' pain, range of motion (ROM) and muscle activity, in subjects with shoulder impingement syndrome

Read the detailed description

A randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted with a sample composed by twenty-four volunteers with SIS, divided in Mulligan's MWM and Placebo groups. Pain intensity in Neer impingement signal and Hawkins-Kennedy impingement test, pressure pain threshold (PPT) on the lateral aspect of shoulder, ROM of shoulder scaption until onset of pain, as well as the activity of trapezius (upper, middle and lower fibers) and serratus anterior muscles during this movement, were evaluated before and immediate (post-) intervention. The Mulligan's MWM group received a mobilization with movement technique in the glenohumeral joint (sustained posterolateral glide during shoulder scaption), while no effective intervention was performed in the Placebo group.

02

Conditions studied

  • Shoulder Impingement Syndrome

Keywords

  • Subacromial impingement syndrome
  • Mobilization with movement
  • Pressure pain threshold
  • Surface electromyography
03

In context

Shoulder Impingement Syndrome

312 studies on the registry are indexed under Shoulder Impingement Syndrome; 58 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 24 is below the median of 54 across 267 interventional studies indexed under Shoulder Impingement Syndrome.

Browse Shoulder Impingement Syndrome studies →

Lead sponsor

Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto is the lead sponsor of 39 studies on the registry; 20 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

Participants had superolateral shoulder pain and two out of four specified objective signs and symptoms:

  • positive Neer test;
  • positive Hawkins-Kennedy test;
  • painful limitation of active arm elevation (flexion, abduction, scaption);
  • pain or limitation with functional movement patterns of hand behind back or hand behind head.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • physician diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis;
  • grade III rotator cuff tear;
  • calcific tendinosis confirmed by radiology;
  • systemic or neurological disorder;
  • cervical radiculopathy; a history of shoulder surgery;
  • corticosteroid injection within the past month;
  • subjects who had received physical therapy intervention for their shoulder within the past three months.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
24 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Intervention group

    The Mulligan's MWM group received mobilization with movement in the glenohumeral joint, as described by Mulligan. The participant was seated, and the physiotherapist was placed on the opposite side to the affected shoulder with the thenar eminence of one hand over the anterior aspect of the humeral head, and the other hand over the spine of the scapula posteriorly of the affected shoulder. The hand over the humeral head performed a posterolateral glide, while the other hand stabilized the scapula. This maneuver was sustained while the participant asked to raise the arm in scapular plan (as explained above) without pain. The physiotherapist previously determined the amount of posterolateral pressure which was the best to abolish the pain during shoulder scaption for each participant.

    Procedure: Mulligan's Mobilization With Movement

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo Group

    In the Placebo group, no effective intervention was performed, the participant was asked to raise the affected arm in scapular plane without pain, while the physiotherapist placed their hands-on shoulder, with the same manual contacts described in Mulligan's MWM group, but without performing any pressure.

    Procedure: Active Mobilization

Interventions

  • ProcedureMulligan's Mobilization With Movement

    The Mulligan's MWM group received mobilization with movement in the glenohumeral joint, as described by Mulligan. The participant was seated, and the physiotherapist was placed on the opposite side to the affected shoulder with the thenar eminence of one hand over the anterior aspect of the humeral head, and the other hand over the spine of the scapula posteriorly of the affected shoulder. The hand over the humeral head performed a posterolateral glide, while the other hand stabilized the scapula. This maneuver was sustained while the participant asked to raise the arm in scapular plan (as explained above) without pain. The physiotherapist previously determined the amount of posterolateral pressure which was the best to abolish the pain during shoulder scaption for each participant. The participants performed three sets of 10 trials with a resting time of 30 seconds between each set. After intervention was allowed a resting time of three minutes.

    Also known as: MWM

  • ProcedureActive Mobilization

    In the Placebo group, no effective intervention was performed, the participant was asked to raise the affected arm in scapular plane without pain, while the physiotherapist placed their hands-on shoulder, with the same manual contacts described in Mulligan's MWM group, but without performing any pressure. The participants performed three sets of 10 trials with a resting time of 30 seconds between each set. After intervention was allowed a resting time of three minutes.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Pain intensity

    The participant was asked to rate the pain intensity in Neer impingement signal and Hawkins-Kennedy impingement test, using a 100 mm visual analogue scale.

    Time frame: baseline

  2. Pain Pressure Threshold on the lateral aspect of shoulder

    Pressure algometry was performed to assess PPT on the lateral aspect of shoulder. A hand-held electronic pressure algometer Force One FDIX (Wagner Instruments, Greenwich CT, United States of America) with a 1 cm2 rubber-tipped probe area was applied perpendicular to the skin at a rate of 1 kg per second. The PPT was measured over the most sensitive point to manual palpation of the lateral aspect of shoulder. This region was marked with a permanent marker so that the same point could be used pre- and post-intervention. The researcher instructed the participant to say "ouch" as soon as sensation changed from feeling pressure to feeling pain. Three trials were performed, with a resting time of 30 seconds and a subsequent analysis of its average.

    Time frame: baseline

  3. Shoulder ROM

    Photogrammetry was performed to assess ROM of shoulder scaption until onset of pain. The ROM was recorded by photography, using a digital camera (30 frames/ second) placed in a perpendicular position to the plane of motion, at a distance of 3 meters from a flat surface. The photography was subsequently analyzed by a postural analysis software (SAPo version 0.69, open source software). To ensure consistent reference points, spherical markers were placed on the skin: one over the acromion and the last over the lateral epicondyle. The participant was asked to raise the arm until feeling pain, with elbow fully extended and thumb pointed up along a flat vertical surface positioned 30º anterior to the frontal plane.

    Time frame: baseline

  4. Shoulder muscle activity

    Surface electromyography (sEMG) was performed to assess the muscle activity of trapezius (upper, middle and lower) and SA, during concentric and eccentric phases of shoulder scaption. The muscle activity was recorded by BioPlux research device (Plux wireless biosignals S.A., Arruda dos Vinhos, Portugal) with 12-bit analog channels and a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz, using double differential electrode leads. To perform sEMG, the participant's hair was shaved, an abrasive cream was used to remove dead cells from the skin's surface, and the skin was cleaned with isopropyl alcohol (70%) to remove oil and remaining dead cells. An electrode impedance checker (Noraxon Corporate, Scottsdale AZ, United States of America) was used to ensure that impedance levels were less than 5 KΩ, which was considered to signify the satisfactory acquisition of the sEMG signal.

    Time frame: baseline

07

Study locations

1 site
  • E2S | P.PORTO - Escola Superior de Saúde do Politécnico do Porto
    Porto, Porto District 4200-072, Portugal
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 1, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06953895
Lead sponsor
Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto
Responsible party
Daniela Ferreira Carneiro (MSc, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde do Porto) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 1, 2025
Start date
Jan 1, 2023
Primary completion
Jul 31, 2023
Completion
Jul 31, 2023
Last update
May 1, 2025

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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