The analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided fascia hydrorelease around the artery for myofascial neck pain: a prospective single-arm interventional study.
T, H., H, K., T, K., H, H., M, S., S, F., T, S., & H, O. (2026). The analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided fascia hydrorelease around the artery for myofascial neck pain: a prospective single-arm interventional study.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0350882
T H, H K, T K, H H, M S, S F, et al. The analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided fascia hydrorelease around the artery for myofascial neck pain: a prospective single-arm interventional study.. PloS one. 2026; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0350882
T H, H K, T K, et al. The analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided fascia hydrorelease around the artery for myofascial neck pain: a prospective single-arm interventional study.[J]. PloS one. 2026. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0350882.
@article{t2026,
author = {Hiroki T and Kimura H and Kobayashi T and Horigome H and Suda M and Fukui S and Suto T and Obata H},
title = {The analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided fascia hydrorelease around the artery for myofascial neck pain: a prospective single-arm interventional study.},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0350882},
note = {PMID: 42536624},
}
TY - JOUR AU - Hiroki T AU - Kimura H AU - Kobayashi T AU - Horigome H AU - Suda M AU - Fukui S AU - Suto T AU - Obata H TI - The analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided fascia hydrorelease around the artery for myofascial neck pain: a prospective single-arm interventional study. T2 - PloS one PY - 2026 DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0350882 AN - PMID:42536624 ER -
Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a major cause of chronic neck pain, with tissue ischemia implicated as a contributing factor. This prospective, single-arm interventional study evaluated the analgesic effect of ultrasound-guided fascia hydrorelease (US-FHR) performed around arteries supplying the neck in patients with chronic neck MPS. Thirteen adults (median age 53.0 years; 38.5% female) underwent US-FHR targeting the perivascular fascia of either the transverse cervical or dorsal scapular artery using 2 mL of normal saline. Pain intensity was assessed by visual analog scale (VAS) at rest and during movement; disability by the 5-item Pain Disability Index, Japanese version (PDI-5-J); and arterial blood flow volume before and after the procedure. The primary outcome, pain VAS during movement, decreased from 49.0 mm (interquartile range [IQR], 44.5-64.0) at baseline to 22.0 mm (IQR, 14.5-31.5) at 15 min and 22.0 mm (IQR, 14.0-34.0) at 1 week (Hodges-Lehmann median difference, 30.5 mm [95% CI, 24.5 to 36.5] and 28.5 mm [95% CI, 18.5 to 37.0]; both P < 0.001). Pain VAS at rest improved from 21.0 mm (IQR, 13.0-43.5) to 8.0 mm at 15 min and 1 week (median difference, 14.5 mm [95% CI, 9.0 to 24.0; P = 0.001] and 13.5 mm [95% CI, 6.0 to 21.0; P = 0.007]). PDI-5-J decreased from 17.0 (IQR, 10.5-23.0) to 13.0 (IQR, 4.0-17.5) at 1 week (median difference, 5 [95% CI, 2-8; P = 0.004]). Blood flow volume increased from 11.2 mL/min (IQR, 4.5-14.4) to 17.2 mL/min (IQR, 6.1-23.7) immediately after US-FHR (median difference, + 4.1 mL/min [95% CI, + 2.5 to +8.9; P = 0.001]), although transient. One patient experienced transient bleeding that was promptly controlled. In this single-arm feasibility study, US-FHR around the target artery was simple and safe to perform and was associated with reduced neck pain. Because the study lacked a control group, these preliminary findings should be regarded as hypothesis-generating and require confirmation in controlled trials; they may also inform the future evaluation of MPS in other anatomical regions. Trial registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000053612.