Muscle tissue oxygen pressure in primary fibromyalgia.

Trigger points in painful muscle are a characteristic sign in patients with primary fibromyalgia. The MDO oxygen electrode was used to evaluate oxygenation in the subcutaneous tissue and in trigger points in the trapezius and brachioradial muscles. Ten patients and 8 normal controls were studied. The results in the patients were abnormal, with scattered or slalom-slope histograms, indicating low tissue oxygenation. The controls were normal, except in one case. The conclusion is that in patients with primary fibromyalgia, the muscle oxygenation is abnormal or low, at least in the trigger point area of the muscles.