But is this just disguising the damage being done? Have we even determined if the pain is real or not? I'm sure your doctor reads every issue of Rheumatology Update and will tell you about this shortly.
http://www.rheumatologyupdate.com.au/latest-news/nerve-block-works-for-stroke-shoulder-pain
Shoulder pain was common following stroke, affecting up to 25% of
patients, yet there was no good treatment for post-stroke shoulder pain,
Dr Shanahan told Rheumatology Update.
The rheumatologists from Flinders University found neurologists were
coming to them for a solution, so they decided to conduct a study into
the effectiveness of nerve blocks in these patients.
They randomised 32 patients to receive a nerve block injection, and 32 patients to placebo.
At week one, four and 12 the SSNB group had a mean VAS reduction of
»37mm with a 18mm difference between the intervention and control group,
albeit with wide confidence intervals (CI 3-29 at 12 weeks).
The number needed to treat with SSNB to reduce one stroke survivor’s
pain by 50% at four weeks and 12 weeks was four, the researchers
reported.
“Patients will most likely only need one injection, as pain relief
tended to last longer than 12 weeks, and most shoulder pain will settle
after 12 months,” Dr Michael Shanahan told Rheumatology Update.
But the researchers were not sure why nerve block worked, and they were
currently using transcranial nerve stimulation in a bid to understand
the mechanism behind its effectiveness, Dr Shanahan said.
They were also looking at the effectiveness of nerve blocks in other
types of stroke, frozen shoulder and in motor neurone disease.
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