Clinical trial NCT01869283: Effectiveness of Physical Therapy Treatments of Myofascial Trigger Points in Subjects With Neck Pain
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Neck Pain
Myofascial Pain Syndrome
Keywords: Physical Therapy Modalities
Myofascial Pain Syndromes
Skeletal Muscle
Lead sponsor: University of Sao Paulo
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2013-06-05
Enrollment: 80
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 59
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Neck pain is a prevalent musculoskeletal dysfunction. Studies point that individuals with chronic pain have metabolic, vascular and electromyographic changes in trapezius muscle. Moreover, a common clinical sign in this muscle in subjects with neck pain is the presence of myofascial trigger points. These are related to the sensory, motor and autonomic changes, being defined as palpable nodules located in the taut band of skeletal muscle. In this context, the focus on treatment modalities stands out in the literature, however, other resources commonly used in clinical practice still lack scientific evidence. Therefore, the aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of physiotherapy resources in the treatment of myofascial trigger points in the trapezius muscle of patients with neck pain. For such, volunteers with neck pain for more than 90 days, of both genders, aged between 18 and 59 years and bilateral myofascial trigger points in the upper trapezius will be randomized into the following groups: group 1 (kinesiotherapy, n = 20), group 2 (kinesiotherapy + static ultrasound, n = 20), group 3 (kinesiotherapy + diadynamic currents, n = 20) and group 4 (untreated control, n = 20). Volunteers will undergo ten sessions of treatment, being realized the following evaluations: surface electromyography, infrared thermography, numerical scale of pain assessment, algometry, Neck Disability Index and skin impedance. For data analysis, normality test will used to verify the data distribution and consistent statistical test for the appropriate comparisons within and between groups, and thus considered two factors in the comparisons, time and group. Will adopt a significance level of 5%.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* neck pain for more than 90 days
* aged 18 to 59 years
* presence of trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle

Exclusion Criteria:

* history of trauma to the neck
* surgery in the head, face or neck
* herniated cervical
* degenerative diseases of the spine
* systemic diseases
* underwent physical therapy in the last three months
* analgesics, anti-inflammatories or muscle relaxants last week
* medical diagnosis of fibromyalgia
* body mass index (BMI) greater than 28 kg/m2
* signs and symptoms of depression

Primary outcomes:
measure: Pain
timeFrame: 3 years
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Cervical range of motion
timeFrame: 3 years
measure: Skin temperature
timeFrame: 3 years
measure: Muscle activity
timeFrame: 3 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Ribeirão Preto
country: Brazil
facility: University of Sao Paulo
state: São Paulo
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Sao Paulo
name: Rinaldo Guirro, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: