Does Dry Needling Treatment Make an Extra Contribution to Conventional Treatment in Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain? A Randomized Controlled Study

Aim: To evaluate the effect of adding dry needling treatment to conventional rehabilitation on pain, range of motion, and functionality on hemiplegic shoulder pain. Methods: A total of 38 patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain were divided into two groups. A multimodal rehabilitation protocol including physical therapy methods and exercise treatments was applied to both groups (5 sessions per week for a total of 15 sessions). In addition to the rehabilitation, three sessions of dry needling treatment were applied for dry needling group. Pain with visual analog scale, range of motion with a goniometer, functionality was evaluated by quick disability of the arm, shoulder, and hand and fugl meyer assessment upper extremity. Evaluations were made before treatment, after treatment, and at the third month of treatment. Results: Patients aged from 30-60 years (mean±SD=53.1± 5.3). The average duration of HSP was 6.7±1 months. While a significant improvement was observed in both groups in all parameters after the treatment, a statistical superiority was found in the dry needling group (p<0.05). At the 3rd month follow-up, there was no difference in pain and functionality parameters between the groups, while flexion and abduction measurements were higher in the dry needling group (p <0.05). Conclusion: Adding dry needling treatment to conventional rehabilitation did not show any difference except for some joint range of motion measurements in the subacute period.