Short- and medium-term effect of kinesio taping or electrical stimulation in hemiplegic shoulder pain prevention: A randomized controlled pilot trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the short and medium-term effectiveness of combining Kinesio Tape (KT) or neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) with a conventional approach to prevent shoulder pain after stroke. METHODS: Thirty-one first-time stroke survivors (58.06% females) were recruited and randomly assigned to one group; Control (n = 10), KT (n = 11), or NMES (n = 10). Ten of all participants were lost during follow-up because of death or a second stroke. The control group underwent conventional treatment (careful shoulder handling and daily mobilizations). This approach was combined with KT or NMES over deltoid muscles in the KT and NMES groups respectively. Measurements were taken at baseline, and at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, and 24 post-stroke. Data collected included self-perceived shoulder pain (Visual Analogue Scale), disability (Barthel Index and Berg scale), and upper limb function (Action Research Arm test). RESULTS: In all groups, shoulder pain did not appear during the first month (p < 0.001), but increased afterwards. In the between-groups analysis, all groups similarly improved disability and function, and no significant differences were observed for any measure (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The combination of KT or NMES with conventional treatment is no superior to conventional treatment alone to prevent hemiplegic shoulder pain.

Shoulder functionality after manual therapy in subjects with shoulder impingement syndrome: a case series.

The aim of the study was to identify the differences in functionality of the upper limb in subjects suffering from shoulder impingement syndrome after intervention by two manual therapy protocols. Randomized, single-blind study with a sample of 22 subjects (58 ± 10.86 years old) divided into two groups. The conventional-group (n = 11) received mobilizations of the shoulder and the experimental-group (n = 11) was treated with soft tissue techniques in the cervical and upper thoracic regions. These two groups received electrotherapy and postural advices. The treatment lasted three weeks (15 daily sessions of 1 h and 30 min). Both active and passive range of motion (ROM) and self-perceived functionality of the upper limb (DASH questionnaire) were measured. The experimental group showed a significant improvement in the DASH scores and both groups improved mobility in the intra-group comparison pre-intervention versus post-intervention (p < .05), but not statistically significant differences were found in the between-group comparison (p > .05). Our results suggest that a combined treatment with electrotherapy, postural hygiene and manual therapy, regardless of the protocol, improves shoulder mobility and functionality.