Effects of Scapular Therapeutic Exercise on Essential Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Parameters in Shoulder Pain Conditions With Scapular Impairments

Polytechnic Institute of Porto

Status: Completed

Conditions: Shoulder Pain

Treatments: Other: Experimental Scapular Therapeutic Exercise Group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05814978

CE0108C

SFRH/BD/140874/2018 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

UIDB/05210/2020 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Shoulder pain is a prevalent and recurrent condition. After a period of shoulder pain, some adaptations could be found, as in scapular muscles and kinematics and/or in nervous system.

It seems important to assess several biomechanical and neurophysiological outcomes to better characterize shoulder pain conditions and to program an intervention plane.

Therapeutic exercise is one of the treatments used for shoulder pain, however there are still doubts and controversial findings regarding exercise focusing the scapular musculature. Thus, the present study aims to assess the effects of an intervention protocol based on scapular therapeutic exercise.

Full description

The study only started after approval of the protocol

Enrollment: 20 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18 to 65 years old
• Chronic (more than 3 months), continuously or intermittently, non-specific or associated with a diagnostic (except if mentioned in the exclusion criteria) shoulder pain of, at least, moderate intensity
• Presenting scapular alterations as scapular dyskinesis (identified at rest or during motion)

Exclusion criteria

• History of shoulder fracture, dislocation, tears, infection or neoplasm
• Shoulder surgery
• Cervical and/or thoracic pathologies or pain associated with active movements of these regions
• Neurological disease
• Body mass index out of the range 18,5-30 kg/m2 and muscular skinfold higher than 20mm
• Inability to perform the exercises
• Current practice of competitive/high-level exercise/sport focusing the upper limb

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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20 participants in 1 patient group

Experimental Scapular Therapeutic Exercise Group

Experimental group

Description:

Patients in this group will perform therapeutic exercises, recommended for subjects with shoulder pain and focusing the neuromuscular control, stretching and/or strengthening of the scapular muscles

Treatment:

Other: Experimental Scapular Therapeutic Exercise Group