STRIPS: Shoulder Taping Reduces Injury and Pain in Stroke
Condition: Stroke; Shoulder Injury
MeSH terms: Stroke; Wounds and Injuries; Shoulder Injuries
Intervention: Taping and Sham Taping; Sham Taping
Intervention description: Taping shoulder with Hospiplast tape.
Taping the shoulder after acute stroke to prevent shoulder injury and pain.
Taping the shoulder after acute stroke and compare with sham taping group.
Treatments:
Positioning technique
Handling technique
Range of motion exercises
Taping technique; Shoulder Taping for 14 days which will be changed after every 3 days.
Phase: Phase 3
Study type: Interventional
Primary purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Care Provider, Outcomes Assessor)
Enrollment: 162.0
Sex: All
Minimum age: 18 Years
Healthy volunteers: No
Keywords: Stroke; Taping; Pain; Shoulder Injury

Summary:

      Background and Rationale: The most commonly seen disabilities in stroke patients are shoulder
      injuries such as shoulder pain, glenohumeral subluxation, spasticity of shoulder muscles,
      soft-tissue trauma, rotator cuff tears, and shoulder-hand syndrome.

      Taping is widely used in the field of rehabilitation as both means of treatment and
      prevention of sports related injuries. Scarce information is available regarding the use of
      shoulder taping in preventing shoulder injuries in stroke patients. Aims:

      To find out the effectiveness of taping technique with conventional treatment versus sham
      taping and conventional treatment in prevention of shoulder injuries in patients with acute
      stroke.

      Hypothesis:

      Taping technique with conventional treatment will be superior to conventional treatment alone
      in preventing shoulder injuries in patients with acute stroke.

      Methods Research setting: Stroke unit, department of Neurology, Christian Medical College
      (CMC) Ludhiana, Punjab, India and College of Physiotherapy, CMC Ludhiana.

      Study design: prospective, randomized, outcome blinded trial (PROBE design). Study period:
      Prospective for 18 months from May 2009 All stroke patients with upper limb weakness within
      48 hours after the ictus and with Brunnstrom's stage of recovery 1 and 2 will be included in
      the study. Patients will be randomized into two groups using lottery method. The treatment
      arm group(Group I) include shoulder taping with conventional techniques that is(positioning,
      handling technique and passive range of motion exercises) and the control arm (Group II)
      include sham taping with conventional techniques with sham taping. A total of 80 patients in
      each group will be included. The plastic micropore and elastic adhesive tape will be used for
      taping the affected shoulder. The sham taping will be done using the same tapes but without
      stretching the concerned muscles and joints. The tapes will be changed every 3 days and will
      remain for 14 days. The outcome measures are as follows; Primary: Pain: Visual Analog Scale
      and Activities of daily living: Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI); Secondary: Range
      of motion: using a Goniometer. The outcome will be assessed by an independent physiotherapist
      who will be blinded to the clinical details. Patients will be followed-up at 14 days and 30
      days. Statistical analyses will be done using SPSS software version 16.
    

Eligibility criteria:

        Inclusion Criteria:

          1. Stroke patients both ischemic and hemorrhagic with upper limb weakness within 48 hours
             after the ictus

          2. Age over 18 years

          3. Brunnstrom's stage of recovery 1 and 2

          4. Patients willing to participate in the study

        Exclusion Criteria:

          1. Patients with Glasgow coma scale of <7

          2. Patients on ventilator

          3. Uncooperative patients

          4. Patients having previous history of shoulder injury

          5. Patients with Wernicke's aphasia

          6. Patients having previous history of shoulder pain

          7. Any previous history of skin allergy to tape