Taheri N.1, Okhovatian F.2, Rezasoltani A.2, Karami M.1, Hosseini S.M.1, Kouhzad Mohammadi H.3
1Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, 2Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 3Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Background: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common, non-articular musculoskeletal disorder. It is characterized by local and referred pain due to the presence of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). MTrPs most commonly involve the upper trapezius muscle and can be visualized using ultrasound imaging.
Purpose: This study designed to determine the inter-rater reliability of some new ultrasonographic indexes of upper trapezius muscle and sensitivity and specificity of 2D ultrasound imaging in the diagnosis of MPS.
Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 15 participants of both genders (mean age: 40.60 ± 5.74 years) with suspected symptoms of MPS were enrolled. In the first step of the study, the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography for diagnosis of MPS was determined in double blindly. In the second step, some ultrasonographic measurements like muscle thickness, area of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) in longitudinal view, echogenicity of MTrPs in longitudinal view, echogenicity of muscle with MTrPs in longitudinal and transverse views, and pennation angle of upper trapezius muscle were measured for two times and their reliability was determined using the results of the mean of two measurements.
Results: The sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonographic diagnosis was 91% and 75%, respectively. The inter-rater reliability of upper trapezius muscle thickness, pennation angle, area of MTrPs, echogenicity of active MTrPs in longitudinal view, echogenicity of muscle with MTrPs in transverse view and echogenicity of muscle with MTrPs in longitudinal view were 0.91, 0.96, 0.93, 0.83, 0.93, and 0.91, respectively
Conclusion(s): Our findings indicated that ultrasonography is a useful method for the diagnosis of MPS due to its high sensitivity.
Implications: Appropriate reliability of the studied quantitative ultrasonographic indexes, especially area of MTrPs and their echogenicity, could be applicable for long-term monitoring and designing interventional studies for better management of the syndrome.
Funding acknowledgements: This article was supported by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Topic: Professional practice: other
Ethics approval: The protocol of study was approved by ethics committee of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
