Clinical effect of acupoint application with turmeric blistering moxibustion plaster on post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVES@#To observe the effects of acupoint application with turmeric blistering moxibustion plaster on pain, shoulder range of motion (ROM) and upper limb motor function in the patients with post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain (PSHSP).@*METHODS@#Eighty-two patients with PSHSP were randomly divided into an observation group (41 cases, 1 case was eliminated, 4 cases dropped out) and a control group (41 cases, 2 cases were eliminated and 2 cases dropped out). The routine treatment, nursing care and rehabilitation training were performed in the control group. On the basis of the intervention as the control group, in the observation group, the turmeric blistering moxibustion plaster was applied to bilateral ashi points, Jianyu (LI 15), Jianliao (TE 14), Binao (LI 14), Shousanli (LI 10) and Hegu (LI 4), once a day, remained for 6 hours each time. This moxibustion therapy was operated 5 times weekly, one course of treatment consisted of 2 weeks and 2 courses were required. Separately, before treatment and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, the score of visual analogue scale (VAS), shoulder ROM and the score of upper limbs in Fugl-Meyer assessment (U-FMA) were observed in the two groups.@*RESULTS@#VAS scores were lower (P<0.05), ROM in shoulder flexion, abduction, internal rotation and external rotation was larger (P<0.05), and U-FMA scores were higher (P<0.05) after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment when compared with those before treatment in the two groups. After 4 weeks of treatment, VAS score decreased (P<0.05), and ROM in shoulder flexion, abduction, internal rotation, external rotation and U-FMA score increased (P<0.05) in comparison with those after 2 weeks of treatment in either group. In the observation group, VAS scores were dropped (P<0.05) after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment respectively, and ROM of shoulder flexion and abduction enlarged after 2 weeks of treatment (P<0.05) when compared with those in the control group. After 4 weeks of treatment, ROM in shoulder flexion, abduction, internal rotation and external rotation in the observation group was larger (P<0.05) and U-FMA score was higher (P<0.05) than those in the control group.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Acupoint application with turmeric blistering moxibustion plaster may effectively reduce the degree of shoulder pain and improve the shoulder range of motion and the upper limb motor function in the patients with post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain.

Clinical observation of electroacupuncture with different frequencies in treatment of hemiplegic shoulder pain after stroke / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the clinical efficacy on hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) after stroke treated with electroacupuncture (EA) under different frequencies.@*METHODS@#A total of 105 patients with HSP after stroke were randomly divided into a manual acupuncture group (35 cases, 2 cases dropped off), an EA continuous wave group (35 cases, 3 cases dropped off) and an EA disperse-dense wave group (35 cases). The conventional rehabilitation therapy was delivered in the three groups. Additionally, acupuncture was applied to Jianyu (LI 15), Jianzhen (SI 9), Jianliao (TE 14) and Jianqian (Extra) etc. on the affected side in the manual acupuncture group. In the EA continuous wave group and the EA disperse-dense wave group, besides the treatment as the manual acupuncture group, the electric stimulation was attached to two pairs of acupoints, i.e. Jianyu (LI 15) and Jianliao (TE 14), and Quchi (LI 11) and Shousanli (LI 10), with 15 Hz continuous wave, and 2 Hz/ 100 Hz disperse-dense wave, respectively. The treatment was given once daily, 5 times a week, for 4 weeks consecutively. The score of visual analogue scale (VAS) before treatment and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, as well as the passive range of motion (PROM) of shoulder forward flexion and PROM of shoulder abduction, muscle strength of the upper limb, the score of modified Barthel index (MBI) and the score of Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) before and after treatment were observed in each group.@*RESULTS@#Compared with before treatment, VAS scores were reduced after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment in each group (P<0.05); and VAS scores after 4 weeks of treatment were lower than those after 2 weeks of treatment (P<0.05). After 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, VAS score in either the EA continuous wave group or the EA disperse-dense wave group was lower compared with the manual acupuncture group (P<0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, VAS score in the EA disperse-dense wave was lower than that of the EA continuous wave group (P<0.05). Compared with before treatment, PROM of the shoulder forward flexion and abduction on the affected side after treatment was enlarged (P<0.05), the muscle strength of the upper limb was increased (P<0.05), and the scores of MBI and FMA were increased (P<0.05) in the patients of each group. After treatment, in the EA continuous wave group and the EA disperse-dense wave group, PROM of the shoulder forward flexion on the affected side was higher (P<0.05), the muscle strength of the upper limb was stronger (P<0.05) when compared with the manual acupuncture group; and the scores of MBI and FMA in the EA disperse-dense wave group were higher than those of the manual acupuncture group (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Electroacupuncture is superior to manual acupuncture in the analgesic effect and comprehensive rehabilitation effect in the patients with HSP after stroke. The therapeutic effect obtained by electroacupuncture with 2 Hz/100 Hz disperse-dense wave is better than that with 15 Hz continuous wave.

Virtual reality applied to home-visit rehabilitation for hemiplegic shoulder pain in a stroke patient: a case report / Journal of Rural Medicine

Objectives: Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to facilitate rehabilitation at hospitals by distracting patients’ attention from pain and by providing a virtual environment favorable for motivating the patients to continue rehabilitation. However, the application of VR in a home-visit rehabilitation remains to be validated. Here, we report a case in which home-visit rehabilitation using immersive VR was effective for post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain.Case presentation: After treatment, at a general hospital, for the hypertensive hemorrhage in the right brain capsule that resulted in the residual attention deficit disorder and left hemiplegia, a 63-year-old woman was cared for with a home-visit rehabilitation in a rural area. The patient had persistent pain in her left shoulder, which increased during activities of daily living and during rehabilitation, and the pain precluded rehabilitation. A VR relaxation program was delivered to the patient to alleviate pain during rehabilitation. Her shoulder pain was successfully alleviated using VR during training for muscle stretching and passive joint mobilization.Conclusion: The application of VR to home rehabilitation in rural areas may augment the effectiveness of home rehabilitation by alleviating pain during the procedure and sustaining the motivation for home rehabilitation.

Progress on rehabilitation nursing for hemiplegic shoulder pain after stroke / 中国实用护理杂志

The article reviewed three aspects of hemiplegic shoulder pain after stroke-introduction, rehabilitation nursing and prospect, in order to provide references for developing effective nursing interventions in the future. We obtained literature from the Cochrane Library, JBI Evidence-based Nursing, PubMed, Wanfang and CNKI Databases between January 2000 and May 2016. According to the principle of three relevant aspects, priority to latest five years and critical appraisal, 39 studies were included. Literature analysis showed that rehabilitation nursing mainly consists of position nursing, supportive devices using, manipulative care and psychological support. Also, it put forward that comprehensive rehabilitation nursing measures have become major means, the combination of Chinese traditional and Western medicine is characteristic therapy in our nation, and nursing practice based on evidence should be set up early to relieve the symptom of hemiplegic shoulder pain and promote quality of life for stroke patients.

Ultrasonographic Finding of Painful Hemiplegic Shoulder Associated with Motor Recovery after Stroke

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between painful hemiplegic shoulder (PHS) and ultrasonographic (US) findings according to the motor recovery stage of the stroke. METHOD: The medical records were reviewed retrospectively in 82 stroke patients from January 2005 to November 2009 who undertook US examination on hemiplegic shoulder. The clinical data collected were age, gender, stroke type, affected side, duration from stroke onset, manual function test (MFT) and the Brunnstrom stage of arm. The presence of spasticity, glenohumeral subluxation and sensory impairment were also investigated. The patients were classified into three groups according to the Brunnstrom recovery stage: the first, second and third recovery stages (RS1, RS2 and RS3). Furthermore, the correlations between US findings and the clinical characteristics according to the Brunnstrom recovery stage were analyzed. RESULTS: The presence of spasticity, glenohumeral subluxation, sensory impairment (proprioception) and MFT scores had statistically significant differences in each group. Among the 82 stroke patients, 62 patients (75.6%) had abnormal findings in US examination. The common abnormal structures were supraspinatus tendon (SST), biceps long head tendon (BLH), subacromial-subdeltoid bursa (SA-SD bursa). The frequencies of total US abnormality in each group were not significantly different (p=0.07). However, the SST abnormality was more frequent in the RS1, and the BLH and SA-SD bursa abnormality were more frequent in the RS3 (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: In this study, abnormal findings in US examination are frequent in PHS. The abnormal SST is related to the flaccidity, and the abnormal BLH and SA-SD bursa are related to the overuse.

Strapping on Subluxation of the Hemiplegic Shoulder: Effects of Elasticity Difference Strapped

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of elasticity difference in strapping therapy for 4 weeks in the patients with hemiplegic shoulder. METHOD: Total sixty-two patients with hemiplegic shoulder were randomly enrolled to three groups. In group I, two parts of a Y shaped first tape, were attached from humeral insertion of deltoid muscle to clavicle midline, following anterior and mid deltoid line, respectively, with 125% elasticity. And two parts of a Y shaped second tape were attached horizontally from head of greater tubercle to medial end of scapular spinous process, following supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles, respectively, with 125% elasticity. Group II patients were applied by the tape with 100% elasticity. Group III was control. The effects of strapping therapy were evaluated by using visual analogue scale (VAS), range of motion (ROM), vertical distance (VD), horizontal distance and joint distance on radiologic findings of plain anteroposterior view and lateral distance on shoulder ultrasonography which was examined between lateral border of acromion and greater tuberosity of humeral head, at entry, 14 and 28 days later. RESULTS: Repeated measured ANOVA indicated that the all groups of the VD showed corrective effect (p<0.05). And for early 14 days, reductions of VAS between the study group I and the other groups were meaningful at this study (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The strapping therapy is a useful therapeutic tool to decrease the degree of shoulder subluxation and to reduce pain in early rehabilitation therapy of patients with post-stroke hemiplegic subluxation.

The Effect of Strapping on Hemiplegic Shoulder Subluxation: A Pilot Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of taping therapy on hemiplegic shoulder subluxation. METHOD: Sixty patients were randomly assigned to three groups. In study group, two parts of the first tape was shaped as letter Y and were attached from humeral insertion of deltoid muscle to extension line of the clavicle midline, following anterior and middle deltoid line, respectively, with 125% elasticity. And two parts of the second tape as same as the first tape were attached horizontally from head of greater tubercle to medial border of scapular, following supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles, respectively, with 125% elasticity. The placebo group was applied by the tape with 100% and 150% elasticity and control group was not applied. The effects of strapping were evaluated by using visual analogue scale (VAS), passive range of movement (ROM), vertical distance (VD) and horizontal distance (HD) on radiologic findings of plain anteroposterior (AP) view and lateral distance (LD) on shoulder ultrasonography at entry (day 0), 1 and 2 days later. RESULTS: Repeated measured analysis of variances indicated that the study group showed corrective effect in the VAS (p<0.05). The control and placebo groups showed no significant change in any parameters of distance measurements and clinical findings. In every group, spasticity, MMT and Brunnstrom stage were not changed during study. CONCLUSION: The taping therapy with 125% elasticity may be helpful for patients with hemiplegic shoulder to reduce pain.

Magnetic Resonance Arthrographic Findings of the Painful Hemiplegic Shoulder

OBJECTIVE: To identify the etiology of hemiplegic shoulder pain by magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography. METHOD: The study included seventy-four hemiplegic patients with shoulder pain. After several physical examinations, all patients had fluoroscopically guided injection by a physiatrist with a maximum of 12~15 ml of contrast agent. Then T1-weighted, T2-weighted and fat-suppressed T1-weighted images were taken at the oblique coronal plane. In addition, fat-suppressed T1-weighted images were obtained at the oblique sagittal and oblique coronal plane. RESULTS: Except for the 9 patients who did not finish the study, the mean age of the participants was 61.5+/-8.9 years and mean duration of the cerebrovascular accident (CVA) was 15.7+/-9.7 weeks. The findings were as follows: 40% supraspinatus tendinitis, 30.8% superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion, 29.2% adhesive capsulitis, 24.6% supraspinatus partial tear, 23.1% biceps tendinitis, 13.8% supraspinatus full thickness tear, 7.7% infraspinatus partial tear. The SLAP lesion had significant statistic relationship with biceps tendinitis (p<0.05) but not with rotator cuff lesion. CONCLUSION: We found that causes of hemiplegic shoulder pain were various. The prevalence of the SLAP lesion was high (30.8%). We recommend the MR arthrography when the hemiplegic shoulder pain does not improve by conventional therapy or the cause of the pain is uncertain.

Effects of Functional Magnetic Stimulation on Hemiplegic Shoulder Subluxation

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of functional magnetic stimulation (FMS) on shoulder subluxation following hemiplegia due to stroke or traumatic brain injury. METHOD: Twenty-four hemiplegic patients were participated in this study as FMS group (12 subjects) and FES (functional electric stimulation) group (12 subjects). FMS or FES were applied on the supraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscle area for 20 minutes, 5 days a week for 3 weeks. The effect of treatment was evaluated by assessment of the degree of shoulder subluxation using radiologic measurements, pain threshold and pain tolerance pressure, range of motion of the shoulder, muscle power and spasticity. RESULTS: The degree of shoulder subluxation was signifi-cantly decreased after 3 weeks in both groups, and the FMS group improved more than the FES group. However there were no differences between two groups significantly. There was no significant effect of disease duration on change of shoulder subluxation. The ranges of motion of shoulder were increased in FMS group significantly. Pain threshold and pain tolerance pressure were increased in pectoralis major and infraspinatus muscles shortly after FMS application. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the FMS could be applied effectively in preventing and reducing the shoulder subluxation in patient with hemplegia irrespective of disease duration.

The Effect of Subacromial Massage for Hemiplegic Shoulder: Ramdomized Controlled Study

OBJECTIVE: Shoulder pain in hemiplegia is common and serious problem, but is not completely understood and somewhat controversial. This preliminary study attempt to evaluate the effect and usefulness of subacromial massage in the management of hemiplegic shoulder. METHOD: In this ramdomized controlled trial, twenty nine hemiplegic patients with shoulder pain and limitation of motion were treated with either subacromial massage (treatment group) or massage on the supra-acromial area (control group). Outcome measurement of pain intensity, and range of motion were obtained by blinded assessment. RESULTS: After massage, in treatment group, mean active range of shoulder motion was increased by 14.3degrees in abduction, 9.0degrees in flexion, 10.3degrees in external rotation and 13o in internal rotation versus 3.9degrees in abduction, 7.5degrees in flexion, 4.3degrees in external rotation and 6.4degrees in internal rotation in control group. The mean pain intensity decreased from VAS 5.47 to 3.8 in treatment group and from VAS 4.57 to 3.71 in control group. This result was statistically significant, except in increment of active range of motion of flexion and external rotation of shoulder joint. CONCLUSION: Subacromial massage was used in an effort to increase shoulder motion and to reduce shoulder pain in hemiplegic patients. There were increase in shoulder motion especially abduction, and decrease shoulder pain in study group compared with control group. Further investigation in the form of long term follow up studies is needed.

The Effect of Functional Electrical Stimulation on Hemiplegic Shoulder Subluxation

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) on hemiplegic shoulder subluxation in post-acute stroke patients. METHOD: Forty-four patients who had shoulder subluxation as a consequence of their first stroke were included and randomly assigned to either a control group (22 subjects) or a study group (22 subjects). Patients in both groups received physiotherapy and used an arm sling. The study group received, FES therapy to shoulder muscles (supraspinatus and posterior deltoid) for 30 minutes, five days a week for 6 weeks. The effect of FES therapy was evaluated by assessment of the severity of subluxation using radiologic measurements before and after treatment. RESULTS: 1) The severity of subluxation was significantly increased after 6 weeks (p0.05). 2) In the group of patients with early treatment (onset duration, less than 6 months), the control group showed a significant increase in subluxation (p<0.05), but the study group showed significantly reduced (p<0.05) shoulder subluxation after treatment period. 3) In the group of patients with mild shoulder subluxation before treatment (less than 1 finger breadth), the control group showed a significant increase in subluxation (p<0.05), but the study group showed significantly reduced (p<0.05) shoulder subluxation after treatment period. CONCLUSION: The FES therapy is effective in preventing and reducing the severity of hemiplegic shoulder subluxation in post-acute stroke patients, especially if duration since stroke onset was less than six months and the severity of subluxation before treatment was mild.

Effects of Intra-Articular Injection and Subscapularis Motor Point Block on Painful Hemiplegic Shoulder

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of intra-articular injection of shoulder and subscapularis motor point block on painful hemiplegic shoulder. METHOD: Thirty painful hemiplegic shoulder of recent onset stroke were divided randomly into three groups, i.e. group I: range of motion (ROM) exercise only, group II: intra-articular injection with ROM exercise, group III: subscapularis motor point block with ROM exercise. The intra-articular injection of shoulder was done with 20 ml of normal saline, 5 ml of 1% lidocaine, and 40 mg of triamcinolone. The subscapularis motor point block was done with 5 ml of 5% phenol under electromyographic guide. The ROM in external rotation and simple X-ray of shoulder in full abduction were checked in three groups at pre-treatment and post-treatment 3 week, and the glenohumeral abduction and scapulohumeral rhythm were obtained from the shoulder X-ray. RESULTS: There were significant (p<0.05) improvements of glenohumeral abduction, external rotation, and scapulohumeral rhythm of shoulder in group II and III, but improvement of only glenohumeral abduction was significant in group I. Angular increment of glenohumeral abduction and external rotation was most significant in group III compared with other two groups. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the intra-articular injection of shoulder and subscapularis motor point block are potentially useful techniques in the prevention and management of the painful hemiplegic shoulder.

Ultrasonographic Evaluation of the Painful Hemiplegic Shoulder

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to know the usefulness of ultrasonographic evaluation of hemiplegic shoulder pain. METHOD: For 20 hemiplegic patients with shoulder pain, the shoulder was evaluated by simple radiographic findings, physical examinations, visual analogue scale (VAS), manual muscle test (MMT), and finally the ultrasonographic examination to define shoulder pain nature. The ultrasonographic results were compared to the simple radiography, physical examination, VAS, and MMT. RESULTS: The ultrasonographic findings were variable. The positive ultrasonographic findings were 10 joint fluid collections, 3 tendinous thickenings, 4 high echogenic findings, 4 tendon surface defects, 2 tendinous gracilings, and 1 joint surface irregularity. The ultrasonographic interpretative conclusion included 6 tendon (or muscle) tears, 2 degenerative changes, 5 nonspecific simple joint fluid collections, and 7 normal shoulder joints. In comparison of ultrasonographic findings and subluxation, VAS, and fluid collection, VAS showed relatively higher correlation. CONCLUSION: The ultrasonography is very useful as a non-invasive, inexpensive, painless, and rapid screening diagnostic method for the evaluation of painful hemiplegic shoulder.