OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of minimally invasive 
acupotomy-injection technique with targeted three-point in the treatment of 
frozen shoulder.
METHODS: From March 2017 to November 2018, a total of 140 patients with frozen 
shoulder were randomly divided into observation group and control group. The 
observation group was made up of 70 patients, including 30 males and 40 females; 
the mean age was (59.2±11.5) years old; the mean duration of disease was 
(6.76±4.14) months; the observed patients were treated with acupotomy-injection 
technique with targeted three-point. There were also 70 patients in the control 
group, made up of 29 males and 41 females; the mean age was (58.9±11.8) years 
old; the mean duration of disease was (6.65±3.98) months; the control group was 
treated with the small needle knife therapy. Before treatment and one month 
after the treatment, the pain levels of both groups were assessed using the 
short-form McGill pain questionnaire, and the shoulder function was evaluated 
using the Constant-Murley Shoulder Outcome Scoring. The clinical efficacy of 
between groups was compared after treatment, and finally, the improvement rate 
of pain degree was used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of the patients.
RESULTS: The PRI, VAS, PPI and total pain scores of frozen shoulder patients in 
both groups decreased significantly one month after the treatment compared with 
those before treatment (P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the 
observation group exhibited a more significant decrease in pain scores (P<0.01). 
Furthermore, the shoulder pain, muscle strength, ADL, ROM and total function 
scores of frozen shoulder patients in the two groups were significantly improved 
one month after the treatment compared with those before treatment(P<0.01). The 
inter-group comparison indicated that the pain, ADL, ROM and total function 
scores were improved obviously in the observation group when compared to those 
in the control group(P<0.01), but no remarkable difference was found between 
muscle strength score and the control group(P>0.05). In addition, the markedly 
effective rate of pain improvement was 70.0% and 45.7% in the observation group 
and the control group, respectively, meanwhile, the corresponding total 
effective rate was 97.1% and 84.3%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The application of acupotomy-injection technique with targeted 
three-point in the treatment of frozen shoulder shows definite efficacy, easy 
operation, little pain and high safety. Therefore, it is an ideal method for 
minimally invasive treatment.