Table 1 MEDLINE search strategy used in the review

1

SHOULDER JOINT/ (13897)

2

SHOULDER/ (8870)

3

shoulder*.ti,ab. (41413)

4

exp JOINT CAPSULE/ (25623)

5

BURSA, SYNOVIAL/ or CARTILAGE, ARTICULAR/ (23509)

6

LIGAMENTS/ or LIGAMENTS, ARTICULAR/ (17025)

7

subacromial bursa.ti,ab. (207)

8

1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 (107701)

9

ELBOW/ or KNEE/ or HIP/ or ELBOW JOINT/ or exp KNEE JOINT/ or HIP JOINT/ (89002)

10

8 not 9 (92176)

11

JOINT DISEASES/ or CONTRACTURE/ or exp BURSITIS/ (10137)

12

bursit*.ti,ab. (1880)

13

(adhesive and capsul*).ti,ab. (709)

14

(contracted and shoulder*).ti,ab. (79)

15

(stiff and shoulder*).ti,ab. (220)

16

(restricted and shoulder*).ti,ab. (443)

17

((“50” or fifty) and year and old and shoulder*).ti,ab. (142)

18

contracture*.ti,ab. (15710)

19

(capsular and adhes*).ti,ab. (533)

20

ARTHRALGIA/ (4808)

21

SHOULDER PAIN/ (2817)

22

PERIARTHRITIS/ (1087)

23

(frozen and shoulder*).ti,ab. (862)

24

11 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15 or 16 or 17 or 18 or 19 or 20 or 21 or 22 or 23 (31479)

25

SHOULDER/pa, ph, pp [Pathology, Physiology, Physiopathology] (2414)

26

SHOULDER JOINT/pa, ph, pp [Pathology, Physiology, Physiopathology] (6206)

27

PHYSIOLOGY/ or NEUROPHYSIOLOGY/ (28421)

28

(pathophysiol* or patho-physiol* or physiopathol* or physio-pathol*).ti,ab. (152283)

29

physiology.ti,ab. (78959)

30

HISTOLOGY/ or HISTOCYTOCHEMISTRY/ (74633)

31

(histol* or histop*).ti,ab. (520480)

32

MICROBIOLOGY/ (5837)

33

microbiolog*.ti,ab. (57683)

34

IMMUNOCHEMISTRY/ (9093)

35

IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY/ (246272)

36

immunohistochem*.ti,ab. (236072)

37

25 or 26 or 27 or 28 or 29 or 30 or 31 or 32 or 33 or 34 or 35 or 36 (1197286)

38

10 and 24 and 37 (1397)

39

limit 38 to humans (1336)