In myofascial pain syndrome (MAS), trigger points frequently appear as clinical consequence. Although it is known that ischemic compression, which is frequently used in the treatment of trigger points, stretching exercises are needed for long term relaxation.

In our study, we investigated the efficacy of Passive Stretching and Scapular PNF methods in addition to ischemic compression. Our study started with the acceptance of 102 patients with MAS diagnosis between February and August 2018 in S.B.U Istanbul Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Hospital Department.

Four patients were excluded from the study due to exclusion criteria and 9 patients discontinued treatment during the study. Our study was completed after evaluation and treatment of 89 patients. Patients between the ages of 18-65 were included in the study, and 65 were female and 24 were male, and the mean age was 41.7 years. Voluntary consent forms were evaluated by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Neck Disability Index (BDI), West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (WHY) and Lateral Scapular Slide Test (LSST). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 24. A total of 6 sessions of treatment were applied to the patients who were called to the treatment programs every other day for 2 weeks. The patients who were recalled before and one day after the treatment were evaluated.

As a result; both groups showed significant improvement in VAS and BDI data. Scapular PNF group data were more significant between groups (p <0.05). Although there was a significant decrease in WHY ”Effect of Pain” ‘and ”Pain Severity” sections in both groups compared to pretreatment, Scapular PNF group data were more significant in the intergroup evaluation (p <0.05). Scapular PNF group data were found to be more effective in the intra- and inter-group evaluation in the WHY ”Support” and ”Household Chores” sections (p <0.05). WHY ”Emotional Distress” and ”Activities Away from Home ”, there was a significant change in both groups but the groups did not have superiority to each other (p> 0.05). LSST Neutral position data showed significant changes in the Scapular PNF group. There was no superiority between the groups (p> 0.05). LSST 45 ° abduction intra-group and inter-group Scapular PNF group data were found to be superior (p <0.05). According to LSST 90 ° abduction data, there was a significant change in Scapular PNF group. There was no superiority between the groups (p> 0.05).

Although scapular PNF may be used for MAS treatment, longer studies are needed. It was thought that multidimensional pain inventories could be used more in this diagnosis especially considering psychological and social factors in MAS clinic.

-Study is made by Serkan Baştepe