Treatment of Myofascial Pain Syndrome With Lidocaine Injection and Physical Therapy.

Treatment of Myofascial Pain Syndrome With Lidocaine Injection and Physical Therapy, Alone or in Combination: a Single-blind, Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.

Background: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) of the shoulder girdle and cervical region is a common musculoskeletal problem that is often chronic or recurrent. It has demonstrated the effectiveness of different treatments such as exercise, injection but not comparing them with each other. The objective of this research was to demonstrate whether lidocaine injection into trigger points combined with a physical therapy program was more effective than each separatetreatment in improving pain, function and quality of life in a group of patients with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) of the shoulder girdle and cervical region.

Design: Single-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial with three parallel groups in the departments of physical medicine and rehabilitation of two urban hospitals. There were 127 patients with myofascial pain in the shoulder girdle for more than six weeks in length and pain greater than 40 mm on the visual analog scale (VAS). There were three intervention groups: physical therapy (PT), lidocaine injection (LI), or the combination of both (PT + LI). The primary outcome at one month was the VAS, and the secondary outcomes were measured using the SF36 pain scaleat one and three months.

Keywords: Myofascial pain, trigger points, lidocaine injection, physical therapy.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pain; Musculoskeletal Pain; Myofascial Pain Syndrome; Myofascial Trigger Point Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Physical therapy; Drug: Lidocaine injection; Other: Lidocaine injection + physical therapy

Detailed Description

We propose a double blind randomized controlled clinical trial, in different health centers in Medellin. The subjects are patients with myofascial trigger points (MTP) in muscles of the shoulder girdle (levator scapulae, trapezius, infraspinatus) diagnosed by neck ans shoulder pain lasting langer than 6 weeks, and that have not received rehabilitation treatment and are not currently taking analgesic medications. We have calculated a sample of 45 patients in each group.

The physical and rehabilitation doctors who evaluated the patients and the nurse who assessed the patients were blinded to treatment allocation. Physicians who performed the MTP injection did not participate in the evaluation of primary and secondary outcomes. Physical therapists who conducted the therapeutic exercise program did not participate in the evaluation of primary and secondary outcomes.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 127
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Colombia
  • Antioquia
    • Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
      • Clínica de Las Américas
    • Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
      • IPS Universitaria

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Cervical Pain at least six weeks
• At least 40 mm in the VAS
• They cannot been received treatment like physical therapy or analgesics
• Maximum score of PHQ 16 points

Exclusion Criteria:

• Depression
• Fibromyalgia
• Cervical Radiculopathy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: SINGLE

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Physical Therapy; Twelve sessions, 3 per week.	Other: Physical therapy; Twelve sessions (3 per week); Other Names: standardized therapeutic exercise program
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Lidocaine injection; Blocking the myofascial trigger point (MTP) with lidocaine injection, unique dose.	Drug: Lidocaine injection; blocking the Myofascial trigger point (MTP) with lidocaine injection, unique dose.; Other Names: blocking the Myofascial trigger point
EXPERIMENTAL: Lidocaine injection + physical therapy; Blocking the Myofascial trigger point (MTP) with lidocaine injection plus a standarized therapeutic exercise program, twelve sessions, 3 per week.	Other: Lidocaine injection + physical therapy; blocking the Myofascial trigger point (MTP) with lidocaine injection plus a standarized therapeutic exercise program (twelve sessions, 3 per week); Other Names: blocking plus a standarized therapeutic exercise program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Visual Analogue Scale	VAS with a score of 0-100, where 100 is the value representing the highest degree of pain and 0 the lowest. Successful treatment was defined as a reduction in pain of at least 20% of the previous score on the VAS after 4 weeks of the initial evaluation, or 14 mm on the VAS; this scale is a reliable pain assessment measure that has been validated previously	4 weeks
Visual Analogue Scale	VAS with a score of 0-100, where 100 is the value representing the highest degree of pain and 0 the lowest. Successful treatment was defined as a reduction in pain of at least 20% of the previous score on the VAS after 4 weeks of the initial evaluation, or 14 mm on the VAS; this scale is a reliable pain assessment measure that has been validated previously	12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
PHQ 9 Function Measured With the Hand Back and Hand Mouth Maneuvers. Complications and Adverse Reactions Need for Rescue Medication	The PHQ-9 was developed from the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders. The self-report instrument asks individuals how much they had been bothered by any of the nine problems over the prior two weeks. Items are scored from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). Items are summed and the total score (from 0 to 27) represents the severity of depressive symptoms. 0 - 4 None-minimal None, 5 - 9 Mild, 10 - 14 Moderate, 15 - 19 Moderately Severe, 20 - 27 Severe	4 weeks
Quality of Life SF-36	The SF-36 consists of 36 items addressing the patient's perception of their quality of life (QoL) in the following eight domains: physical function (PF), role limitations due to physical problems (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role limitations due to emotional problems (RE), and mental health (MH), and one item change in health. Sub-scale scores range from 0 to 100, with 100 as the best, most positive QoL in that area and 0 is the worst. There is a total scale score, all subscales range from 0 to 100. This scale was validated in Colombia.	4 weeks
PHQ 9 Function Measured With the Hand Back and Hand Mouth Maneuvers. Complications and Adverse Reactions Need for Rescue Medication	The PHQ-9 was developed from the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders. The self-report instrument asks individuals how much they had been bothered by any of the nine problems over the prior two weeks. Items are scored from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). Items are summed and the total score (from 0 to 27) represents the severity of depressive symptoms. 0 - 4 None-minimal None, 5 - 9 Mild, 10 - 14 Moderate, 15 - 19 Moderately Severe, 20 - 27 Severe	12 weeks
Quality of Life SF-36	The SF-36 consists of 36 items addressing the patient's perception of their quality of life (QoL) in the following eight domains: physical function (PF), role limitations due to physical problems (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role limitations due to emotional problems (RE), and mental health (MH), and one item change in health. Sub-scale scores range from 0 to 100, with 100 as the best, most positive QoL in that area and 0 is the worst. There is a total scale score, all subscales range from 0 to 100. This scale was validated in Colombia.	12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Grupo Rehabilitacion en Salud
• Collaborators: Universidad de Antioquia
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Luz H Lugo Agudelo, Professor, Universidad de Antioquia Grupo Rehabilitacion en Salud

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): June 1, 2011
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): September 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 27, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 27, 2010
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): November 30, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): October 10, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 4, 2014
• Last Verified: October 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Myofascial pain; Physical therapy; Trigger points.; Lidocaine injection.
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Nervous System Diseases; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Disease; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Rheumatic Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Syndrome; Fibromyalgia; Somatoform Disorders; Myofascial Pain Syndromes; Musculoskeletal Pain; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; Central Nervous System Depressants; Peripheral Nervous System Agents; Sensory System Agents; Anesthetics; Membrane Transport Modulators; Anesthetics, Local; Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Blockers; Sodium Channel Blockers; Lidocaine
• Other Study ID Numbers: GrupoRS0001