Medisan (Apr 2022)
Electroacupuncture in patients with miofacial pain associated with temporomandibular joints dysfunction
Abstract
Introduction: The temporomandibular disorders constitute a painful condition that affects the mastication muscles, the temporomandibular joint, as well as several anatomical structures of the stomatognathic system. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of electroacupuncture in patients with syndrome of miofacial pain associated with temporomandibular joint dysfunction. Methods: A quasi-experiment study of therapeutic intervention in 80 patients assisted in Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso Teaching General Hospital from Santiago de Cuba, was carried out from November, 2018 to the same month in 2021, who suffered from miofacial pain due to dysfunction in the temporomandibular joint. These were assigned in an alternating way in two therapeutic groups of 40 members each one: that of study, to which electroacupuncture was applied, and that of control, which received conventional pharmacological medication; then, they were clinically evaluated at the third, fifth, seventh and tenth days after the therapy. The variables were statistically processed applying the percentage as summary measure and the chi-square test to estimate differences as for the average time of good evolution, with a level of significance of 0.05. Results: Before beginning the therapy, the pain was intense in most of the patients of both groups; however, at the third day of the therapies, the evolution had been good in 45.0 % of the study group and 32.5 % of the control group, and the fifth day this percentage had increased at 60.0 in those that received electroacupuncture, but stayed equally in those that were treated conventionally. When concluding the intervention recession or relief of the miofacial pain in 97.5 % of the cases and in 90.0 % of the controls was achieved. Conclusions: The electroacupuncture was clinically more effective than the conventional medication to palliate the miofacial pain caused by the temporomandibular disorders, with a less average time of good therapeutic response.
