Efficacy of myofascial trigger points infiltration injections and dry needling in patients with upper quadrant myofascial pain syndrome

To investigate the efficacy of myofascial trigger points injections (TPI)  with local anaestetics and myofascial trigger points dry needling (DN) in patients with upper quadrant myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) 216 patients with upper quadrant MPS (according to Šimons, 1999, International Consensus on Diagnostic Criteria and Clinical Considerations of Myofascial Trigger Points, 2018) included in this prospective comparative study. Group 1 comprised 72 patients who were given TPI, a group 2 comprised 72 patients who were treated with a DN and a group 3 comprised 72 patients who were treated with oral medications and physiotherapy. The patients demographic data, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores, q-DASH and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores were recorded, these data were evaluated at 2nd day, 14th day, 28 day and 3rd-month follow-ups. No significant differences were observed in age, sex, or baseline VAS score between the all groups (p>0.005). The VAS scores at 2nd day, 14th day and 28 day were significantly (p<0.05) lower in the group 1 and 2 versus the control group 3 and significantly (p<0.05) lower than baseline values in all groups. There were no significant differences (p>0.005) in baseline ODI and q-DASH scores between groups, and the ODI and Quick-DASH scores at 2nd, 14th day were significantly (p<0.05) lower in the 1 and 2 group than group 3 and significantly (p<0.05) lower than the baseline values in both groups. No statistically significant efficacy was observed between group 1 and group 2 in assessing VAS, ODI, and q-DASH at 28 day. We obtained better results with TPI and DN than only physiotherapy and oral medications in patients with upper quadrant MPS. Thus, both methods have proven to be equally effective in the short term theatment and can be used if there are contraindications to a particular method in patients with upper quadrant MPS.