• Seema Patil, Asha R Iyengar, Ramya Madhuri Kotni, Subash B V, and Revan Kumar Joshi.
• Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, D A P M R V Dental College, Bangalore, India.
• Korean J Pain. 2016 Jan 1; 29 (1): 12-7.

BackgroundThe study aimed to determine if ultrasonography of masseter can be used to evaluate the outcome of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in subjects with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) such as myositis and myofascial pain.MethodsFifteen TMD subjects with myofascial pain/myositis who satisfied the RDC/McNeil criteria were included in the study. All the subjects were administered TENS therapy for a period of 6 days (30 minutes per session). The mouth opening (in millimeters) and severity of pain (visual analogue scale score) and ultrasonographic thickness of the masseter (in millimeters) in the region of trigger/tender areas was assessed in all the subjects both prior and post TENS therapy. A comparison of the pre-treatment and post-treatment values of the VAS score, mouth opening and masseter thickness was done with the help of a t-test.ResultsThere was a significant reduction in the thickness of masseter muscle (P = 0.028) and VAS scores (P < 0.001) post TENS therapy. There was also a significant improvement in the mouth opening (P = 0.011) post TENS therapy.ConclusionsIn the present study, ultrasonography was found to be an effective measuring tool in the assessment of TENS therapy in subjects with myositis and myofascial pain.

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