A COMPARISON ON EFFICACY OF TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION AND THERAPEUTIC ULTRASOUND IN TREATMENT OF MYOFASCIAL TRIGGER POINTS

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) versus therapeutic ultrasound (US) on pain intensity and cervical range of motion (ROM) in patients with upper trapezius myofascial trigger points. METHODS: Sixty-four patients, selected from Institute of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation and Rabia Moon Trust Hospital were divided into two groups. Group-A was treated with TENS and upper trapezius stretching while group-B was treated with US and upper trapezius stretching. Both groups received 12 sessions of treatment, 6 times a week for two weeks. Pre and post-treatment evaluation of pain intensity and cervical ROM was made through numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and goniometer. RESULTS: Mean pre post-treatment pain intensity score (PIS), was 5.16±1.09 2.62 ± 1.23 in Group-A (p 0.01) and 5.87±1.21 0.84±1.01 in Group-B (p 0.05). Mean pre post-treatment left lateral flexion (LLF) was 32.01±8.00 37.09±6.62 in Group-A (p 0.01) and 31.71±6.76 40.12±4.52 in Group-B (p 0.01). Mean pre post-treatment right lateral flexion (RLF), was 30.87±7.15 36.01±6.92 in Group-A and 32.09±6.54 40.81±4.78 in Group-B (p 0.01). Mean change in PIS was 2.54±0.14 5.03±0.2 in Group-A Group-B respectively (p 0.05). Mean change in LLF, was 5.08±1.38 8.41±2.24 in Group-A Group-B respectively (p 0.05). Mean change in RLF, was 5.14±0.23 8.72±1.76 in Group-A Group-B respectively (p 0.05). CONCLUSION: Both therapeutic ultrasound and TENS resulted in significant improvement in pain intensity and cervical ROM, in patients having upper trapezius trigger points. Ultrasound was clinically more effective as compared to TENS.