Ultrasound‐Guided Erector Spinae Plane Block and Trapezius Muscle Injection for Myofascial Pain Syndrome

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: There were two goals to this study: the first goal was to research the analgesic effectiveness of erector spinae plane block (ESPB) added to the treatment after trapezius muscle injection (TMI) and the second was to investigate whether repeated TMI increases the analgesic effect in myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). METHODS: Sixty patients with a diagnosis of MPS were randomized into two groups. The TMI group (n = 30) received ultrasound-guided (USG) TMI with 5 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine two times, with a 1-week interval in between. The ESPB group (n = 30) received USG TMI with 5 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine in the first week and USG ESPB with 20 mL of 0.125% bupivacaine in the second week. The pain severity of the patients was evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS). The data obtained before (week 0) and after (weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4) the injections were statistically compared between the groups. RESULTS: In both groups, the mean VAS score decreased in the first week compared to the mean pretreatment score (p < .001). When the VAS scores were compared between the first and second weeks, a decrease was observed in both groups (p < .001), but it was more evident in the ESPB group. Compared to previous weeks, there was no significant difference in VAS scores at the third and fourth weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The analgesic effect of repeated TMI for MPS was superior to a single injection, but ESPB combined with TMI provided more effective analgesia than repeated TMI.