Use of Surface Electromyography to Evaluate Relationship between Posterior Oblique Sling Muscle Activity and Shoulder Joint Positions: A Narrative Review

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Department of biomechanics ,faculty of physical therapy,Pharos University,Alexandria,Egypt

2 Department of Basic science , Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Egypt

3 Department of Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Egypt

Abstract

The presented narrative review aims to gather information from literature in the last 5 years regarding the relationship between shoulder joint and posterior oblique sling (POS) muscles. English-language full-text articles from scientific journals published within the past five years were considered for evaluation. The following scientific databases: Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed (MEDLINE), ProQuest and Cochrane were searched. The examination of the database was carried out utilizing the following search terms: “electromyography” OR “surface electromyography” OR “sEMG” OR “muscle activity” AND “Posterior oblique sling muscles” OR” latissimus dorsi OR “gluteus maximus” AND “shoulder joint” OR “glenohumeral joint” OR “scapula”. Only six papers related to this topic were from different databases. Several sEMG studies have been performed, revealing that upper limb motion influences contralateral lower limb muscle activity via the POS. This narrative review shows that there is a relationship between posterior oblique sling muscles activity and different shoulder positions and movement based on the results of the studies reviewed. Most of the studies confirmed that a change in shoulder position changes POS muscle activity. In rehabilitation of shoulder joint dysfunctions, incorporating kinetic chain and myofascial slings instead of traditional exercises focusing on the shoulder joint alone is more beneficial. Distant body parts can influence each other through the myofascial connection between them, which explains altered scapular kinematics in low back pain patients. This should also be considered when treating specific dysfunction.

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