Immediate efficacy of low-intensity focused ultrasound versus planar ultrasound in patients with myofascial pain syndrome of upper trapezius: a randomized controlled clinical trial
Bibliographic record
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), a chronic musculoskeletal disorder characterized by myofascial trigger points (MTrPs), causes localized pain and dysfunction. The objective is to compare the immediate therapeutic effects of low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) versus low-intensity planar ultrasound (LIPU) on pain and function in upper trapezius MPS. METHOD: , 1 MHz, 5 min, once a day, 3 days). The primary outcome was pain severity, assessed immediately post-treatment using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS; 0 ~ 10 cm), and served as the central efficacy endpoint. Secondary outcomes comprised supplemental assessments including: (1) multidimensional pain characterization via the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ); (2) functional disability quantification through the Neck Disability Index (NDI); and (3) neuromuscular biomarkers measured by surface electromyography (sEMG) parameters (root mean square [RMS], median frequency [MF]). The outcomes were assessed before treatment and 10 min, 72 h after completing the third and final session of treatment. RESULTS: Pain intensity, as measured by the VAS, decreased significantly immediately after treatment in both the LIFU group (median difference [MD] = -2.0 cm; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.5 to -1.5 cm; p = 0.002) and the LIPU group (MD = -1.0 cm; 95% CI: -1.5 to -0.5 cm; p = 0.001), with these reductions maintained at 72 h post-treatment. Both SF-MPQ and NDI scores showed significant improvements following treatment in both groups. A significant reduction in RMS parameters was observed in the LIPU group immediately after treatment (MD = -15.3 µV; 95% CI: -20.0 to -10.5 µV; p = 0.028). No significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of pain alleviation, functional improvement, and alterations in neuromuscular electrophysiological activity (p > 0.05); however, moderate to large effect sizes suggest possible clinical relevance. No adverse events were reported. CONCLUSION: Both LIFU and LIPU can be considered effective therapeutic options, offering immediate symptom relief in patients with upper trapezius MPS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Register (ChiCTR2500097431) as a clinical trial on 19/02/2025 http://www.chictr.org.cn/ .
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.002 | 0.003 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.006 | 0.002 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.003 | 0.003 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.009 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".