Lee Si-Huei, Chen Chih-Chun, Lee Chang-Shun, Lin Tsung-Ching, Chan Rai-Chi
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
J Chin Med Assoc. 2008 Apr;71(4):200-6. doi: 10.1016/S1726-4901(08)70104-7.
To evaluate the effects of needle electrical intramuscular stimulation (NEIMS) on myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) and their epidermal blood flow.
Forty adult patients with active MTrPs in the upper trapezius or levator scapulae underwent 4 weekly NEIMS sessions. Visual analog scale (VAS) and pain pressure threshold (PPT), along with cervical and shoulder range of motion (ROM) were used as outcome measures. Microcirculatory changes were also evaluated by laser Doppler flowmetry of the epidermal area above these MTrPs. Data were collected before and after each treatment. Paired t tests were used to compare pre- and post-treatment data. Outcomes were presented as box plots displaying medians and 25th to 75th percentile values.
VAS and PPT pain significantly improved immediately after each treatment; effects persisted till the end of the experiment. NEIMS treatment also had immediate and mid-term positive effects on cervical and shoulder ROM. There was an overall negative correlation between epidermal blood flow and VAS score before the first treatment. Regional blood flow significantly increased immediately but temporarily after each treatment.
NEIMS did have positive effects on myofascial pain syndrome, but the data did not indicate that increased regional microcirculation was the possible therapeutic mechanism.
评估针电极肌肉内刺激（NEIMS）对肌筋膜触发点（MTrP）及其表皮血流的影响。
40例上斜方肌或肩胛提肌存在活跃性MTrP的成年患者，每周接受4次NEIMS治疗。采用视觉模拟量表（VAS）、疼痛压力阈值（PPT）以及颈部和肩部活动范围（ROM）作为疗效指标。还通过对这些MTrP上方表皮区域进行激光多普勒血流仪检测来评估微循环变化。在每次治疗前后收集数据。采用配对t检验比较治疗前后的数据。结果以显示中位数和第25至75百分位数的箱线图呈现。
每次治疗后VAS和PPT疼痛评分立即显著改善；效果持续至实验结束。NEIMS治疗对颈部和肩部ROM也有即时和中期的积极影响。首次治疗前表皮血流与VAS评分之间总体呈负相关。每次治疗后局部血流立即显著增加，但为暂时性增加。
NEIMS对肌筋膜疼痛综合征确实有积极作用，但数据并未表明局部微循环增加是可能的治疗机制。
