Investigation on the significance of pressure pain thresholds before and after treatment in female with myofascial chronic pelvic pain / 中国医师进修杂志

Objective To explore the therapeutic effect and clinical significance of pelvic floor rehabilitation technique in female with myofascial chronic pelvic pain (MCPP) by detecting the pressure pain thresholds (PPTs). Methods One hundred healthy female (control group) and 324 female MCPP patients (observation group) from January 2009 to December 2016 were selected. Automatic body surface and vaginal pressure pain detector was applied to detect two groups′PPTs of the 34 spots. The difference of PPTs at each spot was analyzed in two groups. In addition, 51 patients with moderate and severe MCPP were selected to record the changes of PPTs and pain scores before and after the treatment of pelvic floor rehabilitation technique. Results The average PPTs of the abdomen, vulva, pelvic floor and vaginal front and back fornix, bilateral adnexa uteri and sacrouterine ligament in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.01 or<0.05). The average PPTs of the abdomen, vulva, pelvic floor muscles and vaginal front and back fornix, bilateral adnexa uteri and sacrouterine ligament of 51 MCPP patients after treatment were significantly higher than those before treatment (P<0.01). After treatment, PPTs and pain scores of the pelvic floor muscles, bilateral adnexa uteri, bilateral sacrouterine ligament, bilateral sacral spine ligament and vaginal front and back fornix were negatively correlated (r =- 0.78 to- 0.19, P = 0.01 to 0.04); there was a negative correlation between the PPTs and pain scores of the left and right latissimus dorsi (r=-0.28, P=0.04;r=-0.32, P=0.02). The complete remission rate with the pelvic floor rehabilitation technique in 51 patients with MCPP was 9.8％(5/51), the significant remission rate was 90.2％(46/51), and the total remission rate was 100.0％ (51/51). Conclusions Compared with the normal healthy ones, female with MCPP has lower PPTs in the abdomen, perineum, vagina and pelvic floor. The effect of pelvic floor rehabilitation technique on MCPP is well, which can increase patients′PPTs to reduce pain scores. It is a worthwhile method to treat these diseases.

Relationships Between Pressure Pain Thresholds and Clinical Symptoms in Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy. A Case of Osteoarthritis of the Knee Joints / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

The tender points treatment has been widely used for both treatment and diagnosis, but there have been very few studies that have examined its diagnostic usefulness. Thus, the purpose of this study was to clarify the diagnostic importance of tender points. The subject was a patient who had osteoarthritis of the knee of Meiji University of Oriental Medicine Hospital. The relationship between pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) and symptoms in osteoarthritis of the knee (painful knee motion) were evaluated with the Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale (JOA scale), a knee scale and the subject's knee pain diary (starting pain, flexion pain, walking pain and total pain Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale). After 40 acupuncture treatments, improvement was noted in the symptoms and PPTs. The changes in PPTs were related to the symptoms of the knee (flexion and walking pain). This suggests that changes in PPTs (around the knee) are a useful indicator for evaluating knee pain.