Pain neuroscience education following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair for patients with rotator cuff tears: a double blind randomized controlled clinical trial

ABSTRACT Objective This trial examines the efficacy of the Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) on clinical outcomes in patients with arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR). Design A total of 36 participants undergoing ARCR were assigned to either the experimental group (n = 18) or control group (n = 18) in this randomized study. A 6-week-long conventional physiotherapy program was administered for both groups. In addition, a PNE protocol was administered for the experimental group for a whole period of 6 weeks (one session/week, 15-60 min per session). The primary outcomes were to compare pre- and post-treatment scores of the experimental versus control groups on the pain and disability. Our secondary outcomes included the comparisons of scores on the catastrophizing, anxiety, depression, kinesiophobia, and quality of life. The participants were assessed both at baseline and post-treatment. Results The improvement in pain catastrophizing, anxiety, depression and kinesiophobia was greater in the experimental group (p < 0.05). The improvement was similar in both groups in terms of the rest of outcome measures. Conclusion This study showed that the PNE improved only psychological aspects of the chronic pain in ARCR. Therefore, adding PNE to the conventional program might be useful to improve pain catastrophizing, anxiety, depression and kinesiophobia in patients with ARCR.