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Ultrasound-Guided Trigger Point Injections for the Treatment of Neck and Back Pain in the Emergency Department: A
Robert A Farrow1,2, Mark Newberry1,2, Tony Zitek1,2
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
Objectives:
Patients frequently present to the emergency department (ED) with neck or back pain, which can be difficult to treat. We sought to compare ultrasound-guided trigger point injection (TPI) to standard medications for patients with neck or back pain.
Methods:
We performed a single-center, open label, randomized controlled trial on ED patients with neck or back pain from myofascial pain syndrome comparing ultrasound-guided TPIs to those who received the combination of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and a muscle relaxant (MR). The primary outcome of this study was the reduction in mean pain score at the time of ED disposition.
Results:
In total, we analyzed 196 patients. At the time of ED disposition, patients in the TPI group had a mean reduction in their pain scores of 45.0 mm as compared to 49.9 mm in the NSAID plus MR group (difference: 4.9 [95% confidence interval (CI) -3.0 to 12.7], P = .22). At the first reassessment, patients in the TPI group had greater pain reduction by 10.7 mm (95% CI 3.1 to 18.4). The rate of rescue therapy use was higher in the NSAID plus MR group (difference: 17.5% [95% CI 4.4 to 36.2]).
Conclusions:
We found no difference in pain reduction at the time of ED disposition between patients randomized to the ultrasound-guided TPI group as compared to those who received an NSAID plus a MR. However, patients in the TPI group had greater pain reduction at the time of first reassessment and lower rates of rescue therapy use.
