The effectiveness of functional electrical stimulation for the treatment of shoulder subluxation and shoulder pain in hemiplegic patients: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose. To investigate the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) for the treatment of shoulder subluxation and shoulder pain in hemiplegic patients.

Method. A total of 50 hemiplegic patients with shoulder subluxation and shoulder pain were included in the study. The patients were randomly divided into the study and control groups. All patients were put on a rehabilitation program using conventional methods while the study group patients were additionally applied FES to supraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles. The shoulder pain of all patients during resting, passive range of motion (PROM) and active range of motion (AROM) was measured with the visual analog scale (VAS) while the shoulder subluxation levels were evaluated with the classification developed by Van Langenberghe and by using the millimetric measurements on anteroposterior shoulder X-ray before and after the physical treatment and rehabilitation program and compared.

Results. Comparison of the resting AROM vs. PROM VAS value changes showed no significant difference between the groups. There was a significant difference between the two groups for the amount of change in shoulder subluxation in favor of the study group.

Conclusions. The results of our study have shown that applying FES treatment to the supraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles in addition to conventional treatment when treating the subluxation in hemiplegic patients is more beneficial than conventional treatment by itself.

Keywords:

• Hemiplegia
• rehabilitation
• shoulder subluxation
• functional electrical stimulation

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.