Functional electrical stimulation for improving shoulder pain

NCT ID NCT07886827

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Recruiting now This study
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The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
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Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
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Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

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When the status isn't known

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First seen Oct 21, 2026 · Last updated Oct 22, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether adding functional electrical stimulation (FES) to a shoulder exercise program improves how the shoulder muscles work together in older adults with rotator cuff-related shoulder pain. FES uses small electrical currents delivered through pads on the skin to help muscles contract. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does exercise combined with FES improve coordination between the rotator cuff and deltoid muscles more than exercise alone? 2. Does exercise combined with FES increase the space between the top of the upper arm bone and the shoulder blade (acromiohumeral distance), which may reduce pinching of the shoulder tendons? Researchers will compare a group that receives resistance exercise with FES to a group that receives the same resistance exercise without FES. Participants will: 1. Attend exercise sessions 3 times per week for 4 weeks (12 sessions) 2. Complete 4 testing visits: before training, after 2 weeks, after 4 weeks, and 4 weeks after training ends 3. At each testing visit, perform shoulder strength tasks while muscle activity is recorded with sensors on the skin and thin wire sensors placed in the muscle, have an ultrasound of the shoulder, and complete questionnaires about shoulder pain and function

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Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 40 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Oct 2025

Expected to finish

Sep 2029

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

60 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Having pain more than 2 weeks in the anterolateral shoulder region * A painful arc of movement (60°-120°) * Having shown positive impingement signs, including positive Neer, Hawkins, and Empty Can tests Exclusion Criteria: * Acute diagnosed rotator cuff tears * Osteoarthritis-induced shoulder pain * Currently receiving treatment or physical therapy for shoulder pain * Previous shoulder surgery * Taking medications that affect the central nervous system * Metabolic or cardiovascular disease * Metal Implants or pacemakers * Skin lesions on the shoulder * Aversion to needles

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

How to take part

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  1. The places running it

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  2. The official record

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  3. A doctor treating you

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Contacts and locations

Locations

  • The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712

    RECRUITING

    Austin, Texas, 78703, United States

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