To evaluate the effect of treatment for th shoulder-hand syndrome, the medical record of the 215 patients seen from March 1989 to June 1992 was reviewed. There were 36 patients with the shoulder-hand syndrome among them. The 22 patients(Group 1) had been treated with sort term oral systemic corticosteroids and conventional physical therapy, while the 11 patients(Group2) had been treated with only conventional physical therapy. The 3 patients were excluded due to missing of medical record and long term steroid therapy.
The major results were as follows,
1) The incidence of the shoulder-hand syndrome in the hemiplegia was 17%.
2) The short term oral systemic corticosteroid treated group was clinically improved more rapidly than non-steroid treated group.
3) The short term oral systemic corticosteroid therapy decrease the pain of the hand the shoulder rapidly rater than the hand swelling and the shoulder LOM.
So, the oral systemic steroid must be started as soon as possible to relieve the pain rapidly and conventional physical therapy may be continued to relive the hand swelling and the shoulder LOM.
