Percutaneous Fascia Release for Treating Chronic Recurrent Gluteal Myofascial Pain—A Pilot Study of a New Technique

Abstract

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effectiveness of percutaneous fascia release to treat chronic recurrent gluteal myofascial pain related to recurrent tendonitis or bursitis at the attachment sites. Methods Five patients (three males, two females; aged 48.6 ± 8.9 years) with myofascial trigger points in the gluteus medius muscle were treated. Outcome measures, including pain intensity, pressure pain threshold, and the relative strength of hip abduction, were assessed before, immediately after, and six months after the treatment. The data measured before and after treatment (different times) on visual analog scale, pressure pain threshold, and relative hip abduction strength were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and paired t-test, respectively, for the comparisons between time points. Results Reduction in pain intensity and increase in the pressure pain threshold and the relative hip abduction strength were found in all five patients after treatment when compared with those of before treatment (P < 0.05). Moreover, all of these improvements existed for at least six months (P > 0.05). Conclusions Percutaneous fascia release of gluteal muscle insertion sites can be used to treat chronic gluteal pain related to subtrochanteric bursitis to avoid recurrence, if other treatment cannot control the recurrence, although this was demonstrated only on a small sample size without control and blind assessment in the pilot study.