COMPARISON OF TRIGGER POINT PRESSURE RELEASE WITH ULTRASOUND THERAPY TO DECREASE RHOMBOIDS TRIGGER POINTS PAIN

OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of trigger point (TrP) pressure release with ultrasound therapy to reduce rhomboid pain due to TrP. STUDY DESIGN Experimental study STUDY SETTINGS Outpatient department of Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton campus, Karachi, Pakistan. SAMPLE SIZE 50 patients SAMPLING TECHNIQUE Simple random sampling. The patients were divided into two groups of 25. Group A were given TrP pressure release treatment with exercise and group B were given ultrasound (u/s) treatment with exercise. OUTCOME MEASURES The outcome measures were visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and functional rating index (FRI) for functional performance RESULTS In group A, mean pain score on VAS before the treatment were 5.88±1.130 and after treatment were 1.80±1.041 with a p-value of <0.006. Group B, mean pain score on VAS before treatment were 6.56±1.446, after treatment were 2.72±1.208, with a p-value of <0.006. The mean FRI in group A before treatment was 39.92 ± 2.691 and after treatment was 29.60 ± 5.454, with a p-value of 0.002. The mean FRI in Group B before treatment was 41.12 ± 2.505 and after treatment was 35.92 ± 4.183, with a p-value of 0.002. CONCLUSIONS The study indicates that there is no significant difference between TrP pressure release and u/s therapy in relieving pain and improving functional performance in subject with rhomboid TrP.