Effects of Low Frequency TENS and Therapeutic Ultrasound in Post-stroke Shoulder Pain

Summary

Brief Summary: Post-Stroke shoulder pain is a well-known complication and is responsible for the reduction in functional outcomes. A number of factors related to post-stroke shoulder pain including shoulder activity limitation, spasticity of shoulder muscles, and shoulder subluxation. Stroke patients may suffer from pain caused by the stroke itself (central post-stroke pain). Physical therapy plays an important role in the management of post-stroke shoulder pain. Different physical therapy techniques and modalities have been used in reducing pain and increasing functional outcomes in post-stroke shoulder pain patients. This study aims to provide a combined analysis of two modalities: low-frequency TENS and Therapeutic Ultrasound in terms of effects on pain and functional disability. This will be a randomized clinical trial to determine the analgesic effect of low-frequency transcutaneous electrical stimulation and therapeutic ultrasound on functional disability in post-stroke shoulder pain. The study will be conducted in accordance with ethical guidelines of Riphah International University and a convenience sampling technique will be used. Patients aged 65-84 years, with a history of pain of more than 4 weeks will be included in our study. Patients having a stroke with other neurological deficits, unstable cardiovascular diseases such as ventricular arrhythmias, and stroke patients with a history of diagnosed frozen shoulder will be excluded from the study. Subjects will be randomly allocated into three groups. Baseline assessment of pain and functional disability of patients will be done using outcome measuring tools and clinical tests. Group A will receive low-frequency TENS and therapeutic Ultrasound as a treatment, group B will receive therapeutic ultrasound and Group C will receive low-frequency TENS as a treatment. The duration of the study will be six weeks and patients will receive a total of 12 treatment sessions (3 sessions per week for 4 weeks and then follow-up will be done for the next 2 weeks) and the duration of each session will be of 20-25 minutes. After 12 sessions, a final assessment will be done and the results will be analyzed. Frequencies and mean standard deviation will be measured, and parametric and non-parametric tests will be applied.

Conditions

• Stroke
• Shoulder Pain

Interventions

OTHER

low frequency transcutaneous electrical stimulation and Therapeutic Ultrasound

patients will receive low-frequency transcutaneous electrical stimulation for 15 minutes and therapeutic Ultrasound for 10 minutes as a treatment and patients will receive a total of 12 treatment sessions (3 sessions per week for 4 weeks and then follow-up will be done for the next 2 weeks) and the total duration of each session will be of 25 minutes.

OTHER

Therapeutic Ultrasound

patients will receive a therapeutic ultrasound for 10 minutes three times a week for 4 weeks and then follow-up will be done for the next 2 weeks

OTHER

Low frequency transcutaneous electrical stimulation

participants will receive low-frequency transcutaneous electrical stimulation for 15 minutes three times a week for 4 weeks and then follow-up will be done for the next 2 weeks

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Riphah International University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• hira jabeen · Riphah International University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Max Age

84 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-11-11

Primary Completion

2023-08-15

Completion

2023-10-01

Countries

• Pakistan

Study Locations