Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22436614›Full record

ArticleChiropractic & manual therapies2012

A randomized, placebo-controlled double-blinded comparative clinical study of five over-the-counter non-pharmacological topical analgesics for myofascial pain: single session findings.

Daniel Avrahami, Amanda Hammond, Ceara Higgins, Howard Vernon

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Chiropractic & manual therapies, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03939884 (MuscleCare™ Pain Relief Therapy vs. Voltaren® in the Relief of Trapezius Trigger Point Musculoskeletal Pain.), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 43% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03939884 phase4completednot on this mapstarted 2017, after this paper: background citation

MuscleCare™ Pain Relief Therapy vs. Voltaren® in the Relief of Trapezius Trigger Point Musculoskeletal Pain.

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of TorontoRan2017 to 2018Enrolled120ConditionsPainArmsMuscleCare Topical Product, Voltaren Topical, Nivea, Topical Cream
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Daniel AvrahamiToronto, ON, Canada. dr.danavrahami@gmail.com.
Amanda Hammond
Ceara Higgins
Howard Vernon
Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College · CASaskatchewan Health Authority · CAWoodward (United States) · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo investigate the effects of topical agents for the treatment of Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) and Myofascial Trigger Point (MTRP).

methodsSubjects with an identifiable trigger point in the trapezius muscle, age 18-80 were recruited for a single-session randomized, placebo-blinded clinical study. Baseline measurements of trapezius muscle pressure pain threshold (PPT: by pressure algometer) along with right and left cervical lateral flexion (rangiometer) were obtained by a blinded examiner. An assessor blinded to the outcomes assessments applied one of 6 topical formulations which had been placed in identical plastic containers. Five of these topicals were proposed active formulations; the control group was given a non-active formulation (PLA). Five minutes after the application of the formula the outcome measures were re-tested. Data were analyzed with a 5-way ANOVA and Holms-adjusted t-tests with an alpha level of 0.05.

results120 subjects were entered into the study (63 females; ages 16-82); 20 subjects randomly allocated into each group. The pre- and post-treatment results for pressure threshold did show significant intra-group increases for the Ben-Gay Ultra Strength Muscle Pain Ointment (BG), the Professional Therapy MuscleCare Roll-on (PTMC roll-on) and Motion Medicine Cream (MM) with an increased threshold of 0.5 kg/cm2 (+/-0.15), 0.72 kg/cm2 (+/-0.17) and 0.47 Kg/cm2 (+/-0.19) respectively. With respect to the inter-group comparisons, PTMC roll-on showed significant increases in pressure threshold compared with Placebo (PLA) (p = 0.002) and Icy Hot Extra Strength Cream (IH) (p = 0.006). In addition, BG demonstrated significant increases in pressure threshold compared with PLA (p = 0.0003).

conclusionsWith regards to pressure threshold, PTMC roll-on, BG and MM showed significant increases in pain threshold tolerance after a short-term application on a trigger points located in the trapezius muscle. PTMC roll-on and BG were both shown to be superior vs placebo while PTMC was also shown to be superior to IH in patients with trigger points located in the trapezius muscle on a single application.CMCC Research Ethics Board Approval # 1012X01, 2011.

Identifiers

PMID22436614
PMCPMC3337242
OpenAlexW2126471755

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.