Objective: To evaluate the effect and safety of miniscalpel-needle (MSN) on reducing the pain of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS).
Methods: We reviewed the available literatures inception up to February 2014 using Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chinese Biomedical Database and Wanfang Database.
Results: Eight randomized controlled trials were finally identified. The main controls involved acupuncture, medications, injection, massage and cupping. We found that all of the studies agreed on the potential benefit of MSN as a strategy for MPS and the superiority compared to the controls, however, randomized methods applied in most of the trials could be criticized for their high or unclear risk of bias. Further research is also needed to clarify questions around the appropriate frequency and number of treatment sessions of MSN.
Conclusion: This review shows that MSN might have the effect on MPS, even though there were some limitations in the studies included in the review. Studies with robust methodology are warranted to further test its pain-relieving effect on MPS.