The Effect of Mesotherapy and Intra-articular Steroid Injection in Shoulder Pain

The study will include 84 patients aged 18-75 who applied to physical medicine and rehabilitation out-patient clinic with chronic shoulder pain between May and July 2024. Patients will be randomly divided into two groups: a mesotherapy group and steroid injection group, using the closed-envelope method. In the first group, a total of 3 sessions of mesotherapy are applied to the shoulder areas of the patients, 7 days apart. A single-session intra-articular 20 mg triamcinolone hexacetonide injection will be administered for patients in group 2. Pain severity, range of motion and functional impairment will evaluated before treatment, 30 minutes and 4 weeks after the injections.

Inclusion criteria

• Ages 18-75
• Having shoulder pain for 6 months
• VAS (Visual Analog Scale) > 4
• Patients who can receive verbal instructions and do not have cognitive deficits

Exclusion criteria

• Physical therapy applied to the shoulder area in the last 3 months
• Having had a shoulder joint injection in the last 3 months
• History of previous upper extremity surgery
• History of drug allergy
• Use of anticoagulant drugs (warfarin, low molecular weight heparin), patients with coagulation disorder
• History of malignancy
• Psychiatric illness
• A rheumatological diagnosis such as Polymyalgia Rheumatica, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Kidney failure
• Liver disease
• Heart failure
• Pregnancy
• Presence of infection, wound, allergy, burn-like lesions in the application area