Shear-wave elastography for measuring the stiffness of latent trigger points and surrounding areas in the infraspinatus muscle: intra- and inter-examiner reliability analysis.
Loading...
Official URL
Full text at PDC
Publication date
2025
Advisors (or tutors)
Editors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Citations
Exportar
Citation
Kobylarz MD, Valera-Calero JA, Sánchez-Jorge S, Buffet-García J, Díaz-Arribas MJ, Ortega-Santiago R, Klich S. Shear-wave elastography for measuring the stiffness of latent trigger points and surrounding areas in the infraspinatus muscle: intra- and inter-examiner reliability analysis. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2025 Mar 21:S0003-9993(25)00616-1.
Abstract
Objective: To explore the intra- and inter-examiner reliability of shear-wave elastograhy (SWE), (an objective alternative to highly subjective procedures with poor inter-rater reliability such as manual palpation) in measuring the stiffness of latent Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) and healthy surrounding areas in the infraspinatus muscle, pressure pain threshold (PPT), inter-examiner reliability and mean differences in SWE and PPTs between MTrPs and control points DESIGN: Longitudinal observational study: Intra- and inter-examiner reliability study.
Setting: A University lab.
Participants: Forty participants with latent MTrPs within the infraspinatus muscle.
Interventions: None.
Main outcome measures: One experienced examiner identified and classified latent MTrPs and selected an asymptomatic control point within the infraspinatus muscle. Later, 2 blinded examiners assessed once the PPTs (blinded to the scores) and acquired 2 SWE images of each location. Reliability estimates were calculated for assessing PPT inter-examiner reliability and SWE intra- and inter-examiner reliability. PPT and SWE scores were compared by location (MTrP and control) and gender (male/female).
Results: PPTs were significantly lower in MTrPs compared with control points in males (p=0.003) and females (p=0.006), and lower in females compared with males (MTrP p<0.001; control point p=0.001). Good inter-examiner reliability was found for PPTs (ICC>0.84) and SWE (ICC>0.82). Intra-examiner reliability for SWE was excellent (ICC>0.95) in both the novice and experienced examiners.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated excellent SWE intra-examiner reliability (ICCs>0.9) and good inter-examiner reliability (ICCs>0.82). Although PPT scores indicated significant differences in hyperirritability between latent MTrPs and control points, SWE measurements revealed no significant differences in muscle stiffness.