The Neuropathic Dimension of Shoulder Pain: The Effects of Neuropathic Pain on Shoulder Function and Functional Limitation

Objective: To determine the effects of neuropathic pain on pain intensity and shoulder function in patients with chronic shoulder pain.Methods: A total of 102 patients experiencing chronic shoulder pain were enrolled in this cross-sectional observational study.Neuropathic pain was assessed using the Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4) questionnaire.Patients were grouped according to DN4 cut-off scores into a neuropathic pain group (≥4) and a non-neuropathic pain group (0.05).The incidence of pain on the dominant side was significantly lower in the neuropathic pain group (p=0.022).The neuropathic pain group had significantly higher VAS and total SPADI scores (p≤0.001).The SPADI pain and disability subscores were also significantly higher in the neuropathic group (p=0.001 and p=0.002; respectively).DN4 scores correlated positively with VAS (r=0.383;p