The Myofascial Trigger Point Region: Correlation Between the Degree of Irritability and the Prevalence of Endplate Noise.

Kuan, Ta-Shen MD, MS; Hsieh, Yueh-Ling PhD, RPT; Chen, Shu-Min MD; Chen, Jo-Tong MD, PhD; Yen, Wei-Chang MD; Hong, Chang-Zern MD

The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between the irritability of the myofascial trigger point (MTrP) and the prevalence of endplate noise (EPN) in the MTrP region of human skeletal muscle.  The results show the prevalence of EPN in the MTrP regions was significantly higher in the active MTrPs than in the latent ones. However, no EPN could be found in the non-MTrP region near either the active or the latent MTrPs. The pain intensity and the pressure pain threshold were highly correlated with the prevalence of EPN in the MTrP region.  The authors conclude that irritability of an MTrP is highly correlated with the prevalence of EPN in the MTrP region of the upper trapezius muscle. The assessment of EPN prevalence in an MTrP region may be applied to evaluate the irritability of that MTrP.

American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.    86(3):183-189, March 2007.

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