Comparison of the Effect of Methylprednisolone Acetate Injection at the Jianqian Acupoint with That of Oral Piroxicam in Patients with Nonspecific Shoulder Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Shoulder pain is the third most common musculoskeletal complaint.Nonspecific shoulder pain (NSSP) refers to shoulder pain with nonidentifiable pathological causes.In this study, the effects of corticosteroid injection at the Jianqian acupoint were compared with those of oral piroxicam in patients with NSSP.Methods: This single-blind randomized clinical trial involved 58 patients who were randomly allocated into two groups.The piroxicam group took two capsules of piroxicam per day for 2 weeks.The methylprednisolone group received injections of 1 mL of methylprednisolone acetate 40 mg/mL at the Jianqian acupoint.The primary endpoints were pain and function assessed with the visual analog scale (VAS), Oxford shoulder score (OSS), and Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPA-DI).The secondary endpoints were shoulder abduction and degree of flexion.Data were collected before and after treatment at 2, 4, and 8 weeks.Results: Both groups showed significant improvements in the primary and secondary endpoints during follow-ups (p < 0.001).A significant difference was noted in the VAS scores in all follow-ups (p < 0.05) and OSS, SPADI scores, and shoulder abduction and degree of flexion at weeks 4 and 8 (p < 0.001) between the two groups.Conclusion: Therefore, compared with oral piroxicam, methylprednisolone acetate injection at the Jianqian acupoint is an effective treatment for NSSP in terms of pain reduction and functional improvement.