Could the Improvement of Supraspinatus Muscle Activity Speed up Shoulder Pain Rehabilitation Outcomes in Wheelchair Basketball Players?

Giacomo Farì (), Marisa Megna, Maurizio Ranieri, Francesco Agostini, Vincenzo Ricci, Francesco Paolo Bianchi, Ludovica Rizzo, Eleonora Farì, Lucrezia Tognolo, Valerio Bonavolontà, Pietro Fiore and Victor Machado Reis
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Giacomo Farì: Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience (DiBraiN), Aldo Moro University, 70121 Bari, Italy
Marisa Megna: Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience (DiBraiN), Aldo Moro University, 70121 Bari, Italy
Maurizio Ranieri: Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience (DiBraiN), Aldo Moro University, 70121 Bari, Italy
Francesco Agostini: Department of Anatomical and Histological Sciences, Legal Medicine and Orthopedics, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy
Vincenzo Ricci: Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Unit, Luigi Sacco University Hospital, ASST Fatebenefratelli-Sacco, 20157 Milan, Italy
Francesco Paolo Bianchi: Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, 70121 Bari, Italy
Ludovica Rizzo: Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technologies (Di.S.Te.B.A.), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Eleonora Farì: Complex Unit of Territorial Psychology, Department of Mental Health and Pathological Addictions, 40123 Bologna, Italy
Lucrezia Tognolo: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Padua University, 35128 Padua, Italy
Valerio Bonavolontà: Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L’Aquila Vetoio, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Pietro Fiore: Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, IRCCS Institute of Bari, 70121 Bari, Italy
Victor Machado Reis: Research Centre in Sport Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Shoulder pain (SP) is a common clinical complaint among wheelchair basketball (WB) players, since their shoulders are exposed to intense overload and overhead movements. The supraspinatus tendon is the most exposed to WB-related injuries and it is primarily responsible for SP in WB athletes. In these cases, SP rehabilitation remains the main treatment, but there is still a lack of specific protocols which should be customized to WB players’ peculiarities and to the supraspinatus muscle activity monitor, and the improvement of rehabilitation outcomes is slow. Thus, the aim of this study was to verify if the improvement of supraspinatus muscle activity, monitored in real time with surface electromyography (sEMG) during the execution of therapeutic exercises, could speed up SP rehabilitation outcomes in WB players. Thirty-three athletes were enrolled. They were divided into two groups. Both groups underwent the same shoulder rehabilitation program, but only the Exercise Plus sEMG Biofeedback Group executed therapeutic exercises while the activity of the supraspinatus muscles was monitored using sEMG. Participants were evaluated at enrollment (T0), at the end of 4 weeks of the rehabilitation program (T1), and 8 weeks after T1 (T2), using the following outcome measures: supraspinatus muscle activity as root mean square (RMS), Wheelchair User’s Shoulder Pain Index (WUSPI), shoulder abduction, and external rotation range of motion (ROM). The Exercise Plus sEMG Biofeedback Group improved more and faster for all the outcomes compared to the Exercise Group. The monitoring and improvement of supraspinatus muscle activity seems to be an effective way to speed up SP rehabilitation outcomes in WB players, since it makes the performance of therapeutic exercise more precise and finalized, obtaining better and faster results in terms of recovery of shoulder function.

Keywords: shoulder pain; wheelchair basketball; Paralympics; sport; rehabilitation; disability; rotator cuff (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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