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Comparing complementary alternative treatment for chronic shoulder pain of myofascial origin collateral meridian therapy versus local tender area-related meridians therapy
Pan R-Y, Hsu Y-C, Wong C-S, Lin S-L, Li T-Y, Cherng C-H, Ko S-C, Yeh C-C
Medicine 2016 Aug;95(35):e4634
clinical trial
6/10 [Eligibility criteria: Yes; Random allocation: Yes; Concealed allocation: No; Baseline comparability: Yes; Blind subjects: No; Blind therapists: No; Blind assessors: Yes; Adequate follow-up: Yes; Intention-to-treat analysis: No; Between-group comparisons: Yes; Point estimates and variability: Yes. Note: Eligibility criteria item does not contribute to total score] *This score has been confirmed*

The aim of this study was to compare the short-term outcomes between 2 different treatments for unilateral chronic shoulder pain of myofascial origin, that is, local tender area related meridians (LTARMs) treatment and collateral meridian therapy (CMT), which were performed 6 times over a period of 4 weeks. Seventy patients with unilateral shoulder pain of chronic myofascial origin were enrolled. The patients were randomly assigned to 2 different treatment groups: 1 group received CMT (n = 35) and the other received LTARM (n = 35). Before and after the 2 treatment processes, all patients rated their overall pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a validated 13-question shoulder pain and disability index (SPADi) questionnaire was used to measure shoulder pain and functional impairment after therapy for 4 weeks. After CMT, the pain intensity was reduced after CMT. VAS score is reduced from 5.90 +/- 2.07 (a mean of 5.90 and standard deviation of 2.07) to 3.39 +/- 1.2. This was verified by the SPADi pain subscale scores (from 0.58 +/- 0.193 to 0.33 +/- 0.14). The pain-relief effect of CMT was significantly better than that of LTARM (VAS score from 5.78 +/- 1.64 to 4.58 +/- 1.40; p < 0.005; SPADi pain subscale score from 0.58 +/- 0.16 to 0.45 +/- 0.14, p < 0.001). In addition, the VAS scores of patients changed considerably in the CMT group after 4 weeks of treatment, where 63% of patients felt no or mild pain, whereas the VAS scores for moderate pain were even higher in the LTARM group in 75% of patients (p < 0.001). Moreover, the SPADi disability subscale scores improved significantly in the CMT group because of their greater mobility associated with shoulder impairment (disability score from 0.58 +/- 0.20 to 0.35 +/- 0.14) than those in the LTARM group (disability score from 0.55 +/- 0.17 to 0.44 +/- 0.14, p < 0.001). CMT may be more effective in reducing chronic shoulder pain of myofascial origin than the LTARM treatment, where treatment with the former resulted in better functional recovery after 4 weeks than the latter.

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