ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2014  |  Volume : 7  |  Issue : 1  |  Page : 44-47

Role of suprascapular nerve block in chronic shoulder pain: A comparative study of 60 cases


Departmnet of Orthopaedics, Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hosptial and Research Centre, Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pimpri, Pune, India

Correspondence Address:
Anil Salgia
Department of Orthopaedics, Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Pimpri, Pune - 411 018
India
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/0975-2870.122771

Rights and Permissions

Background: Suprascapular nerve block using anatomical landmark has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for chronic shoulder pain from rheumatoid and degenerative arthritis. This can be performed as an outpatient procedure that reduces pain and disability. Aims and Objectives: To access efficacy of suprascapular nerve block in chronic shoulder pain. To compare results between placebo and use of methyl prednisolone with bupivacaine for nerve block . Materials and Methods: 60 patients with chronic shoulder pain were taken up for the trial. In the study group, all patients received the block through the anatomical landmark approach, with a single sitting suprascapular nerve block. On randomized basis, 30 patients were given 10 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine and 40 mg of methyl prednisolone acetate (depo medrol) to block the suprascapular nerve. Another 30 patients were injected with 11 ml of 0.9% saline. Patients were followed up on 2 nd day, 7 th day, and 21 st day and 3 months for the status of relief of pain and improvement of movement of joint. Results: Evaluation of the efficacy of the block was achieved by comparing verbal pain scores and improvement in range of movements at 2, 7, 21 days and 3 months after the injection. Significant pain relief is defined as improvement of more than 70% on verbal and visual analog pain scale scores. Results were consistent with VAS score of pain. Maximum improvement was noted in the bupivacaine+methyl prednisolone mixed group. Conclusion: The result of this study shows a clear benefit of methyl prednisolone + bupivacaine for suprascapular nerve block in cases of chronic shoulder pain. There was statistically and clinically significant reduction in pain and improvement in range of movements.


[FULL TEXT] [PDF]*
Print this article     Email this article
 Next article
 Previous article
 Table of Contents

 Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
 Citation Manager
 Access Statistics
 Reader Comments
 Email Alert *
 Add to My List *
 * Requires registration (Free)
 

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed6116    
    Printed153    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded456    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 2    

Recommend this journal