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Clinical Trials/NCT05925205
NCT05925205
Recruiting
Not Applicable

Muscle Energy Technique Versus Strain Counterstrain in Treatment of Upper Trapezius Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial

Cairo University1 site in 1 country54 target enrollmentMay 7, 2023

Overview

Phase
Not Applicable
Intervention
Not specified
Conditions
Physical Therapy
Sponsor
Cairo University
Enrollment
54
Locations
1
Primary Endpoint
Change in cervical right rotation range of motion.
Status
Recruiting
Last Updated
2 years ago

Overview

Brief Summary

This study will be conducted to examine the superiority of effectiveness between muscle energy technique combined with physical therapy, strain counterstrain combined with physical therapy, and physical therapy alone in terms of pain intensity, pain pressure threshold, cervical lateral flexion and rotation range of motion, and neck function for patients with upper trapezius myofascial trigger points.

Detailed Description

Myofascial pain syndrome represents a common, overlooked, and under-diagnosed disorder that have very critical negative effects on people's lives. In addition, it overloads the societies and causes several burdens on healthcare systems. However, this disorder is usually dismissed by many clinicians keeping the patients in pain for long periods. The central feature of myofascial pain syndrome is the myofascial trigger points that when managed properly, the painful symptoms disappear. Muscle energy technique and strain counterstrain immediate effects were compared in a recent comparative study for patients with upper trapezius myofascial trigger points in terms of pain intensity, pain pressure threshold, and neck mobility. The results showed that there were improvements of both techniques with no significant differences between them. Regarding the evidence of the two techniques; muscle energy technique and strain counterstrain in the management of patients with upper trapezius myofascial trigger points, there is lack of high-quality evidence investigating the effectiveness and safety of both techniques for this population and there is a need for well-developed randomized controlled trial to take a step in the pyramid of levels of evidence for the use and applicability of them. After reviewing the available literature, it was found that there is no study directly combined both techniques with physical therapy protocol in a randomized clinical trial for patients with upper trapezius myofascial trigger points; this will enable us to compare the effects of them in a controlled design to examine and find out the differences between the three treatment protocols.

Registry
clinicaltrials.gov
Start Date
May 7, 2023
End Date
December 31, 2024
Last Updated
2 years ago
Study Type
Interventional
Study Design
Parallel
Sex
All

Investigators

Responsible Party
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator

Mona Mohamed Ibrahim

Principal Investigator

Cairo University

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

  • Not provided

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in cervical right rotation range of motion.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline cervical right rotation range of motion at one month.

Measurement of cervical right rotation range of motion using the cervical range of motion device.

Change in neck function.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline neck function at one month.

Measurement of neck function using the neck disability index-Arabic version.

Change in the right side pain pressure threshold.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline right side pain pressure threshold at one month.

Measurement of right side pain pressure threshold using the pressure algometer.

Change in cervical flexion range of motion.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline cervical flexion range of motion at one month.

Measurement of cervical flexion range of motion using the cervical range of motion device.

Change in cervical extension range of motion.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline cervical extension range of motion at one month.

Measurement of cervical extension range of motion using the cervical range of motion device.

Change in pain intensity.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline pain intensity at one month.

Measurement of pain intensity using the visual analogue scale.

Change in cervical left lateral flexion range of motion.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline cervical left lateral flexion range of motion at one month.

Measurement of cervical left lateral flexion range of motion using the cervical range of motion device.

Change in cervical left rotation range of motion.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline cervical left rotation range of motion at one month.

Measurement of cervical left rotation range of motion using the cervical range of motion device.

Change in the left side pain pressure threshold.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline left side pain pressure threshold at one month.

Measurement of left side pain pressure threshold using the pressure algometer.

Change in cervical right lateral flexion range of motion.

Time Frame: Change from Baseline cervical right lateral flexion range of motion at one month.

Measurement of cervical right lateral flexion range of motion using the cervical range of motion device.

Study Sites (1)

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