Comparative effectiveness of noninvasive therapeutic interventions for myofascial pain syndrome: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Background: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) has an impact on physical health and quality of life for patients, with various noninvasive methods used for relieving myofascial pain. The authors aimed to compare the effectiveness of different noninvasive therapeutic interventions for MPS.

Materials and methods: The authors searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL Complete, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus to identify randomized controlled trials describing the effects of any noninvasive treatments in patients with MPS. The primary outcome was pain intensity, while pressure pain threshold and pain-related disability were secondary outcomes.

Results: The analysis included 40 studies. Manual therapy [mean difference (MD) of pain: -1.60, 95% CI: -2.17 to -1.03; MD of pressure pain threshold: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.86; MD of pain-related disability: -5.34, 95% CI: -8.09 to -2.58], laser therapy (MD of pain: -1.15, 95% CI: -1.83 to -0.46; MD of pressure pain threshold: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.46 to 1.54; MD of pain-related disability: -4.58, 95% CI: -7.80 to -1.36), extracorporeal shock wave therapy (MD of pain: -1.61, 95% CI: -2.43 to -0.78; MD of pressure pain threshold: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.33 to 1.35; MD of pain-related disability: -5.78, 95% CI: -9.45 to -2.12), and ultrasound therapy (MD of pain: -1.54, 95% CI: -2.24 to -0.84; MD of pressure pain threshold: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.31 to 1.22) were more effective than no treatment.

Conclusion: Our findings support that manual therapy, laser therapy, and extracorporeal shock wave therapy could effectively reduce pain intensity, pressure pain threshold, and pain-related disability with statistical significance when compared with placebo. This finding may provide clinicians with appropriate therapeutic modalities for patients with MPS among different scenarios.