Department of Ultrasound, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanxi Tongji Hospital, Taiyuan, China.
Department of Ultrasound, Sixth Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
Ann Med. 2023;55(2):2252442. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2252442.
To investigate the differences in the viscoelastic properties between normal trapezius muscles and those in patients with trapezius myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) using real-time shear-wave elastography (SWE).
This study included 31 patients with trapezius MPS and 31 volunteers. Sixty-one trapezius muscles (41 and 20 on the affected and non-affected side, respectively) of patients with MPS and 62 normal trapezius muscles in volunteers were assessed. Conventional ultrasonic parameters, including skeletal muscle thickness, resistance index (RI), and mean shear wave velocity (SWV) of trapezius muscles, were obtained in the seated position with the shoulders and neck relaxed. The daily neck leaning time (unit:hours) of all participants was obtained using a questionnaire.
Ultrasound showed no statistically significant differences in thickness or RI of the trapezius muscles of the affected and non-affected sides in MPS patients versus normal trapezius muscles ( = 0.976 and 0.106, respectively). In contrast, the SWV of trapezius muscles in patients with MPS was significantly higher than that of normal trapezius muscles in both the affected and non-affected sides (4.41 ± 1.02 m/s vs. 3.35 ± 0.79 m/s, < 0.001; 4.05 ± 0.63 m/s vs. 3.35 ± 0.79 m/s, = 0.002). There was no significant difference between the SWV of the trapezius muscles on the affected and non-affected sides in patients with MPS (4.41 ± 1.02 m/s vs. 4.05 ± 0.63 m/s, = 0.225). Correlation analysis showed that daily neck forward time was positively correlated with the SWV of the trapezius muscles on the affected and non-affected sides in patients with MPS ( = 0.635, < 0.001; = 0.576, = 0.008).
SWE can quantitatively evaluate stiffness of trapezius muscles in patients with trapezius MPS. The stiffness of both affected and non-affected trapezius muscles increased in patients with trapezius MPS, and the degree of increase positively correlated with the time of cervical forward leaning.
应用实时剪切波弹性成像（SWE）技术研究正常斜方肌与斜方肌肌筋膜疼痛综合征（MPS）患者斜方肌之间的黏弹性差异。
本研究纳入 31 例斜方肌 MPS 患者和 31 名志愿者。对 MPS 患者 61 块斜方肌（患侧 41 块，健侧 20 块）和志愿者 62 块正常斜方肌进行评估。采用坐姿，双肩和颈部放松，获得常规超声参数，包括斜方肌厚度、阻力指数（RI）和平均剪切波速度（SWV）。使用问卷调查获取所有参与者的每日颈部前倾时间（单位：小时）。
超声显示，MPS 患者患侧和健侧斜方肌厚度和 RI 与正常斜方肌比较，差异均无统计学意义（ = 0.976 和 0.106）。相反，MPS 患者斜方肌 SWV 明显高于患侧和健侧正常斜方肌（4.41 ± 1.02 m/s 比 3.35 ± 0.79 m/s， < 0.001；4.05 ± 0.63 m/s 比 3.35 ± 0.79 m/s， = 0.002）。MPS 患者患侧和健侧斜方肌 SWV 差异无统计学意义（4.41 ± 1.02 m/s 比 4.05 ± 0.63 m/s， = 0.225）。相关性分析显示，MPS 患者患侧和健侧斜方肌每日颈部前倾时间与 SWV 呈正相关（ = 0.635， < 0.001； = 0.576， = 0.008）。
SWE 可定量评估斜方肌 MPS 患者斜方肌的僵硬程度。斜方肌 MPS 患者患侧和健侧斜方肌僵硬度均增加，且增加程度与颈椎前屈时间呈正相关。
