Harran Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon AD, Şanlıurfa

Background: Myofascial pain syndrome is common cause of musculoskeletal pain. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of dry needling and local anesthetic injections in cases with myofascial pain syndrome. Methods: The study group consisted of 40 patients presenting with complaints of muscle pain in the neck or shoulder and upon examination having palpable myofascial trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle. All patients were randomly assigned to two groups and treated with using: I. Dry needling (n=20) and II. Prilocain injection (n=20). The patients were instructed to continue their home exercise (stretching) program. Patients were evaluated clinically on pre-treatment and post-treatment 12. week. The severity of the pain was evaluated by Neck Pain and Disability Scale (NPADS); quality of life was assessed by Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ); depression was evaluated by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: In dry needling group, there were statistically significant improvements in NPADS, NHP and HAQ scale scores (p< 0.001). However, there was no difference between baseline and 12 week Beck depression Inventory scores in dry needling group (p > 0.05). In prilocain injection group there were statistically significant improvements in NPADS and NHP scale scores but there were no improvements in HAQ and BDI scores (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Our data indicated that both of dry needling and prilokain injection methods may be effective on myofascial pain, whereas, these methods may have no additive effect on depressive symptoms.