ReviewLife (Basel, Switzerland)2023
Effectiveness of Manual Trigger Point Therapy in Patients with Myofascial Trigger Points in the Orofacial Region-A Systematic Review.
Review in Life (Basel, Switzerland), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of friction massage on pain intensity, PPT, and ROM in individuals with myofascial trigger points: a systematic review.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Advances in orofacial pain research: a bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Jaw Exercise Versus Jaw & Posture Exercise Therapies in Comparison to Occlusal Splint Effectiveness in Probable Sleep Bruxism: A Randomised Controlled Study.Journal of oral rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Comparative Effectiveness of Massage Gun and Myofascial Release Technique for Releasing Latent Trigger Points of Calf Muscle: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Health science reports · 2026Article
- MASSAG model: Towards an integrative neuroscience framework linking emotional trauma, pain, and mechanisms of force-based manipulations.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2026Review
- Myofascial Pain Syndrome: An Update on Clinical Characteristics, Etiopathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Treatment.Muscle & nerve · 2025Review
- Editorial for "Novel Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches in Temporomandibular Disorders and Myofascial Pain" Special Issue inLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Pharmacological Management of Orofacial Pain.Drugs · 2023Review
- Injectable Platelet-Rich Fibrin (I-PRF) Administered to Temporomandibular Joint Cavities: A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The objective was to compile, synthetize, and evaluate the quality of the evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding the effectiveness of manual trigger point therapy in the orofacial area in patients with or without orofacial pain. This project was registered in PROSPERO and follows the PRISMA guidelines. Searches (20 April 2021) were conducted in six databases for RCTs involving adults with active or latent myofascial trigger points (mTrPs) in the orofacial area. The data were extracted by two independent assessors. Four studies were included. According to the GRADE approach, the overall quality/certainty of the evidence was very low due to the high risk of bias of the studies included. Manual trigger point therapy showed no clear advantage over other conservative treatments. However, it was found to be an equally effective and safe therapy for individuals with myofascial trigger points in the orofacial region and better than control groups. This systematic review revealed a limited number of RCTs conducted with patients with mTrPs in the orofacial area and the methodological limitations of those RCTs. Rigorous, well-designed RCTs are still needed in this field.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.