Effect of Electroacupuncture on Shoulder Subluxation in Poststroke Patients with Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain: A Sham-Controlled Study Using Multidimensional Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Assessment

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to use multidimensional musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging technique to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on shoulder subluxation in poststroke patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain. METHODS: In this prospective single-blind, randomized, sham-controlled study, thirty-four patients with shoulder subluxation and hemiplegic shoulder pain were recruited and randomly assigned into the EA group or the sham EA (SEA) group. In the EA group, EA was applied to the Jian yu (LI15), Bi nao (LI14), Jian zhen (SI9), and Jian liao (TE14) acupoints. In the SEA group, the EA was applied 15 mm away from the Lou gu (SP7), Di ji (SP8), Jiao xin (KI8), and Zhu bin (KI9) acupoints. Both groups underwent treatment 30 minutes/day, five days a week, for two weeks using dense waves with a frequency of 2/100 Hz. A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment in reducing shoulder pain. Musculoskeletal ultrasound was used to evaluate the changes of measures of shoulder subluxation in multidimensions (i.e., the acromiohumeral distance, AHD; acromion-greater tuberosity, AGT; and acromion-lesser tuberosity, ALT). Both the within- and between-groups treatment effects were assessed. RESULTS: The pain intensity measured by VAS and shoulder subluxation measured by musculoskeletal ultrasound (i.e., AHD, AGT, and ALT) showed significant (p < 0.05) within-group difference in both groups. The between-group difference appeared in the pain intensity (p < 0.05), while it disappeared in the three measures of shoulder subluxation (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Using VAS for measuring pain intensity and multidimensional musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging technique for measuring shoulder subluxation, this study finds that the hemiplegic shoulder pain can be improved significantly by the EA while the shoulder subluxation cannot be. Our findings further reveal the analgesic mechanism of EA on hemiplegic shoulder pain following stroke.