Shoulder Pain (Omalgia): Drug Therapy

Therapy goals

  • Reduction of pain and thus increase of mobility.
  • Diagnosis finding

Therapy recommendations

  • Analgesia (pain relief) during diagnosis until definitive therapy according to WHO staging scheme:
    • Non-opioid analgesic (paracetamol, first-line agent) – see also “Further notes”.
    • Low-potency opioid analgesic (e.g., tramadol) + non-opioid analgesic.
    • High-potency opioid analgesic (eg, morphine) + non-opioid analgesic.
  • If necessary, anti-inflammatory drugs / drugs that inhibit inflammatory processes (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs), eg acetylsalicylic acid (ASS), ibuprofen.
  • If necessary, injection of glucocorticoids intraarticular/into the joint (study situation not sufficiently evident).
  • See also under “Further therapy“.

Further notes

  • For severe acute extremity pain (mean, 8.7; on a scale of 0-10 (most severe pain)) from the shoulder or hip down, ibuprofenparacetamol combination decreased the pain scale score by an average of 4.3 points after two hours. Oxycodone and paracetamol caused a reduction of 4.4 points.