Are Trigger Point Injections Effective in Low Back Pain?

Report By: Nathaniel Ladaga DO, Matt Singh MD - EM Senior Resident, EM Faculty
Search checked by Jeffrey Jones MD - Research Director
Institution: Spectrum Health/Michigan State University Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Date Submitted: 12th April 2020
Last Modified: 12th April 2020
Status: Blue (submitted but not checked)

Three Part Question

In [adults with low back pain] are [trigger point injections compared to standard therapy] more effective in [reducing pain and disability].

Clinical Scenario

A 65-year-old obese female with a history of atrial fibrillation and chronic back pain returns to the emergency department for exacerbation of her low back pain. Her vitals are normal and her exam reveals reproducible paralumbar muscular tenderness consistent with previous exams. You would like to treat her pain but are concerned about her risk of falling at home given her risk factors of age, anticoagulant use, and polypharmacy. You wonder about the effectiveness of trigger point injections for this patient’s musculoskeletal pain.

Search Strategy

Medline 1966-04/20 using PubMed, Cochrane Library (2020), and Embase