ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT07816679Updated Sep 15, 2026

GDS Method for Frozen Shoulder

An interventional study of GDS Muscle and Joint Chains Method and Conventional Physiotherapy in Adhesive Capsulitis and Frozen Shoulder, sponsored by Anahuac University. Completed at 1 site in Mexico. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-15.

Sponsored by Anahuac University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 5 years 8 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Jan 2021, registered Sep 2026).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This randomized exploratory clinical trial evaluated the effectiveness of the GDS Muscle and Joint Chains Method compared with conventional physiotherapy in patients with frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis). Thirty participants were randomly assigned to either the GDS intervention group or the conventional physiotherapy control group. Both interventions consisted of eight 50-minute sessions administered twice weekly for four weeks. The primary therapeutic objectives were to improve shoulder range of motion and reduce pain. Shoulder mobility was assessed using goniometry, and pain intensity was evaluated using a Visual Analog Scale. The study hypothesized that the GDS Muscle and Joint Chains Method would produce greater improvements in shoulder mobility and pain than conventional physiotherapy.

02

Conditions studied

  • Adhesive Capsulitis
  • Frozen Shoulder

Browse trials for

03

In context

Bursitis

383 studies on the registry are indexed under Bursitis; 111 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 30 is below the median of 44 across 346 interventional studies indexed under Bursitis.

Browse Bursitis studies →

Lead sponsor

Anahuac University is the lead sponsor of 10 studies on the registry; 4 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
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

  • Age >18 years.
  • Diagnosis of frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) established by a specialist in Traumatology and Orthopedics.
  • Referral to the physiotherapy service.
  • No current therapeutic assistance.
  • Pharmacological treatment with NSAIDs and subacromial infiltration.
  • Acceptance and signing of .

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • to electrotherapy.
  • Pacemaker.
  • Metallic osteosynthesis material.
  • Skin disorders in the area where electrodes would be applied.
  • Current therapeutic assistance.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
30 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    GDS Muscle and Joint Chains Method

    Other: GDS Muscle and Joint Chains Method

  • Active comparator
    Conventional Physiotherapy

    Other: Conventional Physiotherapy

Interventions

  • OtherGDS Muscle and Joint Chains Method

    Participants received eight 50-minute sessions of the GDS Muscle and Joint Chains Method, administered twice weekly for four weeks. Treatment was individualized according to the participant's typology and included muscle reprogramming, postural and movement retraining, manual techniques applied along muscle-chain pathways, passive stretching, isometric and eccentric muscle activation, proprioceptive techniques, and strategies aimed at restoring balance between antagonistic and complementary muscle chains. Shoulder range of motion and pain intensity were assessed before and after the four-week intervention.

  • OtherConventional Physiotherapy

    Participants received eight 50-minute conventional physiotherapy sessions administered twice weekly for four weeks. Treatment included application of a hot compress to the affected shoulder, 15 minutes of conventional transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) at 150 Hz with intensity adjusted to participant tolerance, 10 minutes of therapeutic ultrasound at 3 MHz and 0.8 W/cm² in pulsed mode at 50%, followed by 15 minutes of therapeutic exercise according to the MEDBRIDGE GO program. Shoulder range of motion and pain intensity were assessed before and after the intervention.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Shoulder Range of Motion

    Shoulder range of motion was measured in degrees using goniometry. Measurements included shoulder flexion, abduction, internal rotation, external rotation at 90° of abduction, and external rotation at 0°.

    Time frame: Baseline and 4 weeks

  2. Change in Pain Intensity

    Pain intensity was assessed using a Visual Analog Scale ranging from 0 to 10, with 0 representing no pain and 10 representing the greatest pain intensity.

    Time frame: Baseline and 4 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Universidad Anahuac México
    Huixquilucan, State of Mexico 52786, Mexico
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Jan 2021 to primary completion in Aug 2023, 31 months.

Of 217 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Bursitis, half reached primary completion within 10 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 17. This study's 31 months is above that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 217 studies reached it within 10 months; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 17.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Sep 7, 2026
First posted
Sep 14, 2026
StartActual
Jan 1, 2021
Primary completionActual
Aug 1, 2023
CompletionActual
Aug 2, 2023
Last update
Sep 15, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 15, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07816679
Lead sponsor
Anahuac University
Responsible party
Jose Juan Antonio Ibarra Arias (Principal Investigator, Anahuac University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 14, 2026
Start date
Jan 1, 2021
Primary completion
Aug 1, 2023
Completion
Aug 2, 2023
Last update
Sep 15, 2026

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion