Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital Introduces New Treatment for Frozen Shoulder

Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital held a press conference today to introduce a new pain relief therapy for micro-arterial embolization, arthritis, and tendinitis. A principal surnamed Wu from a primary school in Taitung County shared her experience, stating that two years ago, she suffered from shoulder pain that made basic daily activities like getting in and out of bed, combing her hair, and holding a showerhead difficult. She had sought various treatments including orthopedics, massage, and rehabilitation, but saw no improvement. Last year, she was introduced to Dr. Chen Chia-hung's outpatient clinic in the radiology department of Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital, where she was diagnosed with frozen shoulder. Dr. Chen arranged for her to undergo Transcatheter Arterial Embolization (TAME) for pain relief. Within a few months, she regained her original daily functions, overcoming the past difficulties of not being able to do many things. Principal Wu jokingly called frozen shoulder her 50th birthday gift, but she was fortunate to receive this new treatment, which allowed her right arm to move from only 90 degrees to 180 degrees, most importantly, no longer suffering from pain and sleepless nights. Dr. Chen Chia-hung, who introduced this new treatment to Taitung Mackay, stated that in the past, joint pain treatment mostly considered muscle or peripheral soft tissue injuries, infections, or inflammations, and pain relief often targeted these possible pathogenic causes. There was also a reason that had been long overlooked in the past, until recent years it became the focus of pain treatment: blood vessels. Transcatheter Arterial Embolization (TAME) is specifically for patients who are "unresponsive to conservative treatment and not yet eligible for surgery," becoming a new dawn in effectively combating chronic pain. Dr. Chen Chia-hung stated that the scope of TAME is very wide, including degenerative knee arthritis, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, and even plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinopathy. Clinical evidence shows that most patients experience significant pain reduction within a few days to weeks after the procedure, and the effect can last for a period. For example, in degenerative knee arthritis or frozen shoulder, most patients can maintain a good pain-free or significantly improved state within 1 to 2 years after the procedure. The biggest difference from traditional orthopedic surgery is that TAME is an ultra-minimally invasive "pinhole" procedure. Patients only need to receive local anesthesia and mild sedation, without general anesthesia or large incisions. It is completed through a puncture hole of about 2 mm in the wrist or groin under X-ray fluoroscopy. (Editor: Hsieh Ya-chu) 1150408