| Objective: To study the influence of “instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization” (IASTM) on hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP). Methods: Totally, 43 HSP patients were randomly divided into the experimental group (IASTM group, n=23) and the control group (manipulation group, n=20). Both groups were treated with routine individualized rehabilitation therapy. The experimental group was treated with IASTM for soft tissue around the shoulder, and the control group was treated with manipulation therapy for 4 weeks. Assessment was done before and after treatment: upper limb motor function was assessed by Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Upper Extremity (FMA-UE), passive range of motion (PROM) of shoulder joint was measured by a universal protractor, pain was assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS), and the activities of daily living were assessed by Modified Barthel Index (MBI). Results: Before treatment, there were no significant differences in FMA-UE score, shoulder PROM score, VAS score and MBI between the two groups (P>0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, all evaluation indexes in the two groups were significantly improved as compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), and those in the experimental group were better than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Both ASTM and manual treatment can improve upper limb motor function, PROM, pain degree and ADL ability, and IASTM is superior to manual treatment in improving HSP patients. |
