Contralateral Acupuncture in the Treatment of Chronic Shoulder Pain

Peking University80 enrolled

Overview

According to traditional Chinese medical theories, a variety of acupuncture formulas can treat diseases such as pain. For example, stimulating acupoints either local or distal to the pain site has been proposed under some conditions. We hypothesize that stimulating acupoints contralateral to the pain site can successfully treat chronic shoulder pain.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Shoulder Pain

Interventions

AcupuncturePROCEDURE

Acupuncture in the following acupoints on the contralateral side of pain site: Jiantong, Zhongzhu, Houxi, and Quchi. The patient will receive 5 treatments (each lasts 30 min) per week for four weeks.

ControlOTHER

Patients in the waiting list group received conventional orthopaedic therapy including physical exercise, heat or cold therapy. 50 mg diclofenac daily could be taken when the patient suffered from the pain. Injections or cortisone applications of any kind were not allowed.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 25 YearsMax age: 65 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Uni-lateral shoulder pain for 6 weeks to 2 years * VAS score ≤ 50 * 25-65 years of age * Positive Neer's or Hawkins' signs * Accept the informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Shoulder pain of neurological origins * Shoulder pain of neck origins * Systematic arthritis * Wrist problems * Previous shoulder, arm, neck or chest fractures or surgeries * Mental diseases * Pregnancy * Inability to work for more than 3 months before treatment * Diabetes * Coagulative dysfunction * Corticosterone or physicotherapy experience on the affected shoulder in the last 6 months * Failure to accept the informed consent

Locations (1)

Province Hospital of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine, Sichuan

Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Visual analogue scale (VAS)

Pain assessment

Time frame: before and 2, 4, 8 and 16 weeks after treatment start

Secondary Outcomes

The MOS item short from health survey (SF-36)

Quality of life assessment

Time frame: before and 8 and 16 weeks after treatment start

Constant-Murley score

shoulder motion score

Time frame: before and 2, 4, 8 and 16 weeks after treatment start

DASH score

Time frame: before and 2, 4, 8 and 16 weeks after treatment start

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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