Efficacy of intra-articular hyaluronic acid (IAHA) injection for hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) after stroke

Effect of Intra-articular Hyaluronic Acid Injection on Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain After Stroke

Article specifications

This clinical study was published in 2016 in Journal of Ann Rehabil Med (IF 2016: 0.75) by Italian specialists. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intra-articular hyaluronic acid (IAHA) injection for hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) after stroke. Thirty-one patients with HSP and limited range of motion (ROM) without spasticity of upper extremity were recruited. All subjects were randomly allocated to group A (n=15) for three weekly IAHA injection or group B (n=16) for a single intra-articular steroid (IAS) injection.

 

Result

IAHA seems to have a less potent ability to reduce movement pain compared to steroid in the early period. However, there was no statistically significant intergroup difference in Wong-Baker Scale (WBS) and ROM improvements at the 8th week. IAHA might be a good alternative to steroid for managing HSP when the use of steroid is limited.