Publications

Background: Mesotherapy is a procedure or a process of injecting drugs into the skin. This technique can help decrease the total drug dose due to its drug-sparing effect on the systemic route and can be utilized to treat nonspecific neck pain that occurs in the lateral and posterior neck.

Methods: Ten patients with bilateral cervicobrachial pain were recruited and evaluated at T0 before treatments, T1 at the end of the treatment (42 days after T0), and T2 (72 days after T0). Assessments consisted of performing the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to evaluate pain evolution; a range of movement (ROM) and Bilateral trapezius’ tone, elasticity, and dynamic stiffness measurements were performed using MyotonPRO®. All patients underwent mesotherapy treatment in the trapezius muscles with 1 cc of Diclofenac Sodium and 1 cc of lidocaine diluted in 3 cc of saline for a total of 6 weeks.

Results: VAS value statistically decreased at T1 and T2; ROM of neck flexion statistically increased at T1 and T2, and myometric tone and stiffness value statistically improved at T1 and T2.

Conclusion: Mesotherapy with Diclofenac Sodium reduced pain intensity and improved functional outcomes, with no significant adverse effects in patients with myofascial pain syndrome of cervicobrachial localization.

Keywords: local intradermal therapy, mesotherapy, cervicobrachial pain syndrome, myofascial pain syndrome, myometric measurement, muscular stiffness, range of motion

Mesotherapy with Diclofenac Sodium reduced VAS scores and improved functional and myometric outcomes in a group of patients affected by myofascial pain syndrome of the cervicobrachial district with no significant side effects. Therefore, mesotherapy could be considered as a therapeutic alternative where classic therapies used for this condition were unsuccessful or inadvisable or in association with other treatment options. Moreover, in the short-term follow-up, it appears that the local therapy analyzed in this study might have better outcomes with respect to the systemic approach, with fewer adverse events. Its use can, therefore, be taken into consideration in standard treatment programs, but the precise algorithms need to be better investigated by scientific researchers.

Finally, we hope that further studies could better deepen our current findings involving larger samples and using increasingly effective technologies in the evaluation and cure of patients.