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Effect of Ultrasound-guided Piriformis Muscle Corticosteroid Injection Versus Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Piriformis Syndrome: a Randomized Control Trial

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy
Therapeutic Exercise
Corticosteroid Injection
Piriformis Syndrome
Interventions
Procedure: Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT)
Procedure: Ultrasound-guided piriformis steroid injection
Registration Number
NCT04684537
Lead Sponsor
Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital
Brief Summary

In this study, the investigators aim to compare the effect of extracorporeal shockwave therapy with ultrasound-guided piriformis coticosteroid injection in treatment of PS.

Detailed Description

Piriformis syndrome (PS) is one of the common etiology of low back pain. The cause of PS is due to myofascial syndrome of piriformis muscle, leading to piriformis muscle spasm, string-like taut band, and trigger point. Consequently, it may compresses the sciatic nerve which arise from sciatic notch and passes under the piriformis muscle. Conservative treatment of PS includes therapeutic exercise, diathermy, and local steroid injection. Among them, as radiology techniques advance, ultrasound-guided piriformis injection becomes popular for diagnosis block and treatment. Nowadays, extracorporeal shockwave therapy has widely applied in musculoskeletal disease such as plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow, and calcific tendinitis of the shoulder. However, to the investigators best knowledge, there is no study comparing the therapeutic effect between local steroid injection and shockwave. In this study, the investigators aim to compare the effect of extracorporeal shockwave therapy with ultrasound-guided piriformis corticosteroid injection.

This is a randomized controlled trial. 70 participants will be randomly divided into shockwave group and injection group. The participant in the shockwave group will receive one time extracorporeal shockwave therapy, and injection group will receive one time ultrasound-guided piriformis muscle corticosteroid injection. After the intervention, participant in both groups will receive home-based stretch exercise. Evaluation will be performed at baseline, 1 week, and 5 weeks after intervention. Outcome measures include the pain visual analog scale (VAS), hip range of motion, change of pressure pain threshold, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
70
Inclusion Criteria
  1. Age from 20 to 80
  2. Unilateral buttock involvement without leg pain or paresthesia
  3. Duration of symptoms ≥1 month
  4. Positive trigger point or taut band at piriformis muscle, confirmed by palpation and ultrasound examination
  5. Positive FAIR (flexion, adduction, internal rotation) test
  6. Positive piriformis resistive test (patient actively abducts and/or externally rotates the hip while the examiner resists these movements
Exclusion Criteria
  1. Having received hip, pelvis, or lumbar spine surgery
  2. Low back pain or buttock pain due to lumbosacral spine, hip or pelvis lesion other than piriformis syndrome
  3. Having received shock wave therapy or corticosteroid injection for buttock pain within the past one month
  4. Neurologic deficit in in the lower limbs
  5. History of drug allergy to local anesthetics or corticosteroids
  6. Pregnancy

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Shockwave groupExtracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT)each subject will receive extracorporeal shockwave therapy
Injection groupUltrasound-guided piriformis steroid injectioneach subject will receive ultrasound-guided piriformis corticosteroid injection
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)change between baseline and at 1 week, 5 weeks after the beginning of the treatment.

ODI score is used for disability evaluation. It is a self-reported questionnaire with range 0-100. It has 10 questions with an minimal clinical important difference (MCID) of 10 points, with higher scores indicating more disability. The questions include pain intensity, sleep quality, and ability to perform personal care, work, sit, walk, lift, stand, and travel.

The pain visual analog scale (VAS)change between baseline and at 1 week, 5 weeks after the beginning of the treatment.

It measures severity of pain. It is performed with a 100-mm horizontal line. The end of the left side is defined as no pain, and the end of the right side as the worst pain. Participants are requested to report the severity of buttock pain in recent one week.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
hip range of motionchange between baseline and at 1 week, 5 weeks after the beginning of the treatment.

Internal and external rotation of the hip on the affected side will be measured with a goniometer by the study assistant. The measurement will be performed in the supine position according the standard procedure.

change of pressure pain thresholdchange between baseline and at 1 week, 5 weeks after the beginning of the treatment.

It is defined as the amount of pressure needed to shift local sensation from pressure to pain. This is measured with a digital algometer and has been shown to have excellent intrarater reliability in the gluteal region (ICC = .90), with a minimal detectable change of 3.1 N/cm2. The digital algometer, made up of a 1-cm-wide disk, will be placed at the tender point between the ischial tuberosity and the greater trochanter while the patient is lying prone. The algometer's pressure will be increased gradually (with a speed approximately 1 N/cm2 per second) until the participant reports pain. The average value of three repeated measurements is recorded.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital

🇨🇳

Taipei, Taiwan

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