Myofascial Trigger Points and Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Critical Review of Recent Literature An Introduction by the editor-in-Chief

Rather than providing the customary few pages with abstracts of the current literature, for this special topic issue of JMMT on myofascial pain syndrome we have been able to enlist the expertise of Dr. David Simons and Jan Dommerholt to share with us their critical review of what they consider some of the more relevant recent literature on this topic. As the co-author of the most authoritative textbooks and countless articles in the peer-reviewed literature on the topic of myofascial pain syndrome, Dr. Simons is clearly the pre-eminent pioneer in this area and he remains so by his frequent contributions to the literature including those in this issue of JMMT. Jan Dommerholt is a valued member of the Editorial Board of the Journal and is a prolific writer, researcher, and gifted physical therapy clinician and teacher in the area of myofascial pain. By way of this introduction, the Journal would also like to recognize Jan for being the main driving force behind this special topic issue. Some of the reviews in this section of the Journal have appeared in earlier or will appear in future issues of the Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain, a specialized, peer-reviewed and referenced, quarterly journal published by The Haworth Press on the topic of diagnosis and management of patients with fibromyalgia syndrome, myofascial pain syndrome, and other soft tissue pain syndromes. The Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain is accessible online at http://www.haworthpress.com. We would like to thank Dr. I. Jon Russell, MD, PhD, the Editor-in-Chief of this Journal, and Mr. Bill Cohen, Publisher and Editorin-Chief for The Haworth Press, for their kind permission to include these reviews in this special topic issue of JMMT. This review of relevant literature provides the readers with the unique opportunity to more closely review many of the studies referenced in the various articles that make up this issue of the Journal. It also provides readers perhaps not familiar with this area of orthopaedic manual therapy with a bibliography for further study and allows for critical evaluation of the state-of-the art of research in this area and claims made as to the evidence base. Some of the articles reviewed here discuss interventions that may not necessarily be included in the scope of practice of all readers. At times, interventions such as acupuncture, magnetic field stimulation, dry needling, and infiltrations will seem far removed from the familiar terrain of orthopaedic manual therapy. However, it benefits all of our patients if we are familiar with the interventions available and, perhaps more importantly, the –at times limited-research basis supporting claims for their efficacy.