Ultrasound-guided dextrose injection treatment for chronic myofascial pain syndrome: A retrospective case series

Abstract

Background: Due to the lack of an evidence-based consensus, managing refractory myofascial pain syndrome is challenging for clinicians. Dextrose injection (dextrose prolotherapy) emerged as a promising, cost-effective treatment. This study evaluated the efficacy of targeted ultrasound-guided dextrose injection for localized myofascial pain syndrome. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 45 patients with myofascial pain syndrome refractory to alternative treatments with targeted ultrasound-guided dextrose injection. Pretreatment symptom severity and symptomatic response 1 month after treatment were statistically analyzed using a visual analog scale (VAS)-based scoring system. Results: Of 45 patients, 8 (24.4%) reported complete resolution of symptoms at the treated site. In total, 36 (80.0%) patients reported greater than 50% improvement in their symptoms. The mean pretreatment and posttreatment VAS scores were 7.0 and 2.44 (p < 0.001), indicating an overall 65.0% reduction in symptom severity. Conclusion: Targeted ultrasound-guided dextrose injection was remarkably effective for refractory localized myofascial pain syndrome, significantly reducing symptom intensities in the majority of treated patients within 1 month after a single injection.