OBJECTIVETo investigate the current practice of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) including current epidemiology, pathology, diagnosis and treatment.

DATA SOURCESThe data analyzed in this review were mainly from relevant articles without restriction on the publication date reported in PubMed, MedSci, Google scholar. The terms "myofasial trigger points" and "myofacial pain syndrome" were used for the literature search.

STUDY SELECTIONOriginal articles with no limitation of research design and critical reviews containing data relevant to myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) and MPS were retrieved, reviewed, analyzed and summarized.

RESULTSMyofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is characterized by painful taut band, referred pain, and local response twitch with a prevalence of 85% to 95% of incidence. Several factors link to the etiology of MTrPs, such as the chronic injury and overload of muscles. Other factors, such as certain nutrient and hormone insufficiency, comorbidities, and muscle imbalance may also maintain the MTrP in an active status and induce recurrent pain. The current pathology is that an extra leakage acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction induces persistent contracture knots, relative to some hypotheses of integration, muscle spindle discharges, spinal segment sensitization, ect. MTrPs can be diagnosed and localized based on a few subjective criteria. Several approaches, including both direct and supplementary treatments, can inactivate MTrPs. Direct treatments are categorized into invasive and conservative.

CONCLUSIONThis review provides a clear understanding of MTrP pain and introduces the most useful treatment approaches in China.