EFFECT OF LOW LEVEL LASER THERAPY ON HEMIPLEGIC SHOULDER PAIN IN POST STROKE SUBJECTS

Abstract

Shoulder pain is a common complication of a stroke which can impede participation in rehabilitation and has been associated with poor outcomes. Low Level LASER Therapy (LLLT) is one of the adjunct treatments of choice with exercise therapy for shoulder rehabilitation in Physiotherapy. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of LLLT on Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain (HSP) in reducing shoulder pain and improving upper limb function in post Stroke subjects. Prospective study design. 68 subjects with mean age of 53 years having a clinical diagnosis of Stroke with HSP were randomly allocated into two groups. In Group-A (n=34) subjects were treated with LLLT and standardized Rehabilitation Programme, where as in Group-B (n=34) subjects were treated with standardized Rehabilitation Programme. Participants were given interventions twice a week for 8 weeks. The outcomes of this intervention were measured by SPADI for pain, disability and FMA-UE for function. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that within group comparison both groups showed signicant improvement in all parameters, where as in between groups comparison Group-A showed better improvement compared to the Group-B. After 8 weeks of interventions both Group-A and Group-B showed signicant improvement in reducing pain and improving upper limb function. However LLLT along with Standardized Rehabilitation Programme showed more improvement when compared to the Standardised Rehabilitation Programme alone. Thus this study concludes that LLLT is a useful adjunct in HSPalong with rehabilitation