Travell, Simons and Cargo Cult Science
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PainSci notes
An informal survey of the poor state of trigger point science from an articulate expert, Fred Wolfe, a rheumatologist. Dr. Wolfe gives his first-hand account of the first trigger point diagnosis reliability study in 1992 (see Wolfe), and he tells the story of meeting Dr. Janet Travell and observing her unscientific conduct with a patient.
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This item is about:
“The fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndromes: a preliminary study of tender points and trigger points in persons with fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome and no disease,” Wolfe et al, Journal of Rheumatology, 1992.
Closely related items:
- “Reliability of physical examination for diagnosis of myofascial trigger points: a systematic review of the literature,” Lucas et al, Clinical Journal of Pain, 2009.
- “A systematic, critical review of manual palpation for identifying myofascial trigger points: evidence and clinical significance,” Myburgh et al, Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 2008.
- “Interrater Agreement of Manual Palpation for Identification of Myofascial Trigger Points: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Rathbone et al, The Clinical Journal of Pain, 2017.
- “Clinical precision of myofascial trigger point location in the trapezius muscle,” Sciotti et al, Pain, 2001.
- “Interrater reliability in myofascial trigger point examination,” Gerwin et al, Pain, 1997.
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