High-Intensity Laser Therapy for Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain: An Investigation of Efficacy
 

E. Bilir, O. Kara, S.G. Atalay, Ö. Tezen, Ö. Uzun, İ. Karaköseoğlu
Hitit Medical Journal, 7(2):262-272, 2025

Objective: Hemiplegic shoulder pain is one of the most common complications after stroke. High-intensity laser therapy is a new treatment option between conventional treatment strategies. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of conventional physical therapy agents and high-intensive laser therapy in this study.
Material and Method: Randomized, case-control trial. Participants (n=43) were randomized into two groups. Group 1: high-intensive laser therapy (n=22), and group 2: conventional physical therapy (n=21), and additionally, therapeutic exercise programs were applied both groups. Patients were assessed before treatment and after treatment for clinical parameters with a visual analog scale, an arm motor ability test, functional independence measure scores, and modified ranking scores. Patients underwent sonographic diagnostic evaluation.
Results: Sociodemographic characteristics and clinical data and ultrasonographic findings were similar between groups (p>0.05). In both groups, within-group comparisons showed a significant decrease in activity and nocturnal pain scores and a significant increase in arm motor ability test function and movement scores and functional independence measure scores (p<0.05). Compared to the conventional physical therapy group, the HILT group showed a significantly greater improvement in the VAS night score (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Our study results indicate that both treatment interventions were efficacious in the management of hemiplegic shoulder pain. Therefore, high-intensity laser therapy presents as a potential alternative therapeutic modality for hemiplegic shoulder pain, demonstrating a comparable level of effectiveness.