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Review
. 2025 Jul;17(3):236-253.
doi: 10.1177/17585732241255679. Epub 2024 Jun 3.

Physical harms associated with suprascapular nerve block interventions in the non-surgical management of acute and chronic shoulder pain: A systematic review

David Richard Annison  1 , Neil Smith  2 , Emma Salt  3   4 , Tim Noblet  5   6   7 , Amar Rangan  1 , Catriona McDaid  8
Affiliations
Review

Physical harms associated with suprascapular nerve block interventions in the non-surgical management of acute and chronic shoulder pain: A systematic review

David Richard Annison et al. Shoulder Elbow. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Background: The utility of the suprascapular nerve block (SSNB) in the non-surgical management of shoulder pain continues to be explored, whilst its associated physical harms have not. This systematic review aims to report the physical harms associated with the SSNB in the non-surgical management of shoulder pain.

Methods: A search was undertaken of AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline, Pubmed, and Scopus databases. Studies were included if they reported the presence or absence of harm following a SSNB intervention (injection, pulsed radiofrequency, ablation) in the non-surgical management of acute or chronic shoulder pain. Excluded studies were those which utilised SSNB for peri, intra, or post-surgical intervention. The McMaster tool for assessing quality of harms assessment and reporting was utilised.

Results: A total of 111 studies were included in this review of which 168 episodes of harm were reported across 4142 participants. Harm severity ranged from pneumothorax (n = 5) to local pain and bruising (n = 50). The quality of harms assessment and reporting across all studies was poor.

Discussion: Despite heterogeneity in SSNB intervention, and low-quality evidence, SSNB carries a low risk of physical harm. Further work is needed in addressing the poor quality of harms assessment and reporting in SSNB studies.

Keywords: adverse effects; adverse events; harm; safety; shoulder pain; suprascapular nerve block.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) flow chart.
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