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Efficacy of platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of hemiplegic shoulder pain

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Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on pain and functional outcomes in patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain. We compared the effects of PRP against saline solution by designing a double blind, randomized, prospective study.

Design

Forty-four patients with hemiplegia were included in this study. All patients received a total of 3 injections, 1 week apart. The first group received PRP injections while the second group received placebo injections. After 3 months of follow-up, 40 patients completed the trial. Primary outcome measure was movement-induced pain score (VAS), and secondary outcome measures were spontaneous pain score, shoulder passive range of motion (ROM), functional independence measure score, and the amount of paracetamol used. All subjects were evaluated at baseline, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after the completion of the last injection.

Results

Both groups showed an improvement in spontaneous and movement-related pain scores and shoulder passive ROM values on 1st and 3rd month visits (p < 0.05). No significance difference was detected between groups (p > 0.05). Similarly, FIM scores improved significantly in both groups (p < 0.05) but no difference was found between groups. Paracetamol use did not differ significantly between groups.

Conclusion

The PRP injections were found not to be superior to placebo. Improvements in both groups can be attributed to the use of rehabilitation techniques and exercises in all patients. There is still need for further research to show whether PRP is a treatment option in the course of hemiplegic shoulder pain.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03931824.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey

    Asude Uzdu, Yeşim Kirazlı, Hale Karapolat, Burcu Unlu, Göksel Tanıgör & Funda Atamaz Çalış

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  1. Asude Uzdu
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  2. Yeşim Kirazlı
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  3. Hale Karapolat
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  4. Burcu Unlu
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  5. Göksel Tanıgör
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  6. Funda Atamaz Çalış
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Contributions

Uzdu Asude: concepts, design, literature search, clinical studies, data acquisition, manuscript preparation

Kirazli Yesim: concepts, design, literature search, manuscript preparation, data analysis, manuscript review

Karapolat Hale: concepts, design, clinical studies, data acquisition, manuscript preparation

Unlu Burcu: clinical studies, data acquisition, manuscript preparation

Tanigor Goksel: literature search, data analysis, manuscript editing, manuscript review

Atamaz Calis Funda: concepts, design, literature search, manuscript editing, statistical analysis, data analysis, manuscript review

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Göksel Tanıgör.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

This manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, the requirements for authorship have been met, and each author declares that the manuscript represents honest work.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of Ege University Faculty of Medicine, with the number of 14-12.1/47 and was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Uzdu, A., Kirazlı, Y., Karapolat, H. et al. Efficacy of platelet-rich plasma in the treatment of hemiplegic shoulder pain. Neurol Sci 42, 1977–1986 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04710-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-04710-0

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