RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to compare the efficacy of dry needling, trigger point injection, and protection methods through physical exercise on clinical symptoms and the pain threshold in patients with temporomandibular myofascial pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between March 2013 and September 2013, in a random consecutive manner, a total of 63 consecutive patients (10 males, 53 females; median age 39.4±14.9 years; range, 18 to 65 years) were randomly divided into three groups: Group 1 (only exercise and protection training), Group 2 (dry needling + exercise + protection training), and Group 3 (trigger point injection + exercise + protection training). Dry needling or trigger point injection was performed for three times to the patients in Group 2 and Group 3 on a weekly basis. All patients were followed on Day 10 and at one month. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement in the assessment and response variables was found for all groups, particularly for pain and functional limitation status (p<0.001). All groups were similar in terms of the improvement degree (p<0.001). Although not statistically significant, the highest improvement in the facial pain was seen in Group 3 on Day 10 (p=0.235); however, on Day 30, no significant difference was observed. CONCLUSION: Our study results showed that improvement in the subjective and objective symptoms in all treatment groups. Particularly, only exercise therapy was found to be beneficial as invasive methods. We suggest that all these methods should be applied together to achieve long-term efficacy.
RESUMO
In this study, the relation between osteoporosis and vitamin D and the disease activity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was investigated. A hundred patients with AS and 58 healthy individuals were included in the study. In addition to the routine blood and urine tests, serum 25-(OH)D3, parathormone (PTH), C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), total calcium, ionized calcium, and phosphorous levels of all participants were also measured. Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements were performed at the anterior-posterior and lateral lumbar and femur regions. Anterior-posterior and lateral thoracic and lumbosacral radiography was performed on all participants. The disease activity was evaluated by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), functional status by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), and mobility by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI). In the patient group, BMD values obtained from the lateral lumbar and femur regions and serum vitamin D levels were lower than the control group. A negative relation was determined between the lateral lumbar BMD values and ESR, CRP, and BASDAI scores of patients with AS. The ESR, CRP levels, and BASMI scores of the AS patients with osteoporosis were significantly higher, when compared to patients without osteoporosis. The negative correlation between serum 25-(OH)D3 level and ESR, CRP levels did not reach a statistically significant level in patients with AS; the positive correlation between PTH levels and ESR, and the negative correlation between CRP and BASDAI also did not reach a statistically significant level. Vitamin D deficiency in AS may indirectly lead to osteoporosis by causing an increase in the inflammatory activity. The present authors believe that it would be beneficial to monitorize vitamin D levels together with BMD measurements in order to determine the patients under osteoporosis risk.