Multimodal Treatment for Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain

Hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) affects up to 60% of moderate to severely impaired stroke survivors. HSP is associated with poor rehabilitation outcomes, including interference with activities of daily living (ADLs) and poor quality of life (QoL). While many treatments for HSP have been proposed, most do not result in long-term relief of pain. The investigators developed the use of intramuscular peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) for the treatment of HSP, which involves the temporary placement of a percutaneous intramuscular electrode to stimulate the axillary nerve motor points to the deltoid muscle. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCT) concluded that intramuscular PNS was the only treatment to provide long-term relief of pain for those with HSP. However, physical therapy (PT), which focuses on correcting biomechanics, is the most commonly prescribed treatment for HSP and is recommended by multiple practice guidelines. Prior to acceptance by the clinical community, the superiority of PNS to a course of PT must be demonstrated. The investigators completed a pilot RCT comparing PNS to PT and 67% vs. 25% of participants experienced successful pain relief (i.e., ≥ 2-pt or 30% reduction) from PNS and PT, respectively. Thus, the primary objective of this 2-site RCT is to confirm the findings of this preliminary pilot RCT. Combining PNS and PT, which may be how PNS is actually implemented in clinical practice, may have a synergistic therapeutic effect. Thus, the second objective of this RCT is to determine if multimodal treatment of HSP with PNS + PT is more efficacious for pain relief than PNS alone or PT alone. Mechanisms also will be explored.