THE COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF THE COMBINATION OF PHYSICAL THERAPY MODALITIES AND LOCAL CORTICOSTEROID THERAPY AND ALONE PHYSICAL THERAPY IN THE PATIENTS WITH HEMIPLEGIC SHOULDER PAIN

Introduction: The present study aimed to explore whether the combination of physical therapy modalities and local corticosteroid therapy is superior to singly applied physical therapy modalities in patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP). Materials and Method: In this randomized comparative study, 30 patients who had shoulder pain due to hemiplegia were randomly divided into two groups. The first group consists of 15 subjects (injection group) who received conventional physical therapy modalities (hotpack, ultrasound, TENS), exercised for 15 sessions and received local steroid injection into the shoulder once the study began. The second group (control group) received only conventional physical therapy modalities and exercised. Patients were evaluated three times: at treatment baseline, at the first week, and at the 7th post-treatment week. Evaluations were performed by using a visual analogue scale, range of motion measurements, functional independence measure (FIM), Brunnstrom upper extremity stage, and modified Ashworth scale. Results: Statistically significant (p<0.05) improvement was observed in visual analogue scale, range of motion measurements, functional and daily activities, and Brunnstrom motor development stage, while a significant decrease was detected in spasticity according to modified Ashworth scale, in both groups after the treatment. However, comparison of groups did not reveal any statistically significant difference (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our results show that the combination of local corticosteroid and physical therapy modalities is not superior to singly applied physical therapy modalities.