Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the efficacy of topical vibratory stimulation for reducing pain during
trigger point injection (TPI).
Design
Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Setting
Tertiary care university hospital.
Participants
A total of 136 participants were randomly recruited from among patients with myofascial
pain syndrome who were scheduled for TPI. Of these, 65 were excluded because they
met the exclusion criteria, and 11 because they refused to participate. Finally, 60
participants were enrolled. No participants dropped out of the study.
Intervention
Participants were randomly assigned to the vibration group or control group. TPI was
performed with 0.5% lidocaine using a 25-gauge needle. A vibrator was applied to the
popliteal fossa for 3 to 5 seconds prior to and during TPI to the gastrocnemius; 100-Hz
vibration was turned on for the vibration group and turned off for the control group.
Main Outcome Measures
Pain intensity during TPI was assessed using a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) as
a primary outcome, and participant satisfaction and preference for repeated use were
measured using 5-point Likert scales as a secondary outcome. These parameters were
evaluated immediately after TPI. The primary outcome was evaluated using analysis
of covariance and secondary outcome using the Mann-Whitney U test.
Results
VAS scores for pain during TPI were significantly lower in the vibration group (30.30;
95% confidence interval [CI], 22.65-39.26) compared with the control group (47.58;
95% CI, 38.80-56.52; F=7.74; P< .01). The mean difference in VAS scores between the 2 groups was 17.27 (95% CI,
5.24-29.30). Participant satisfaction and preference for repeated use were significantly
higher in the vibration group than in the control group (P<.05). No participant showed any side effects.
Conclusion
Topical vibratory stimulation significantly decreased pain during TPI of the gastrocnemius.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CI (confidence interval), MPS (myofascial pain syndrome), MTrP (myofascial trigger points), TPI (trigger point injection), VAS (visual analog scale)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 26, 2019
Footnotes
Supported by the Soonchunhyang University Research Fund.
Clinical Trial Registration No.: NCT03365674.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
