Painful trigger points in surgical scars.

A group of 69 patients with painful trigger points in operative scars were treated following abdominal, inguinal, lumbar, or extremity surgery. Patients undergoing thoracotomies, neurosurgical procedures, or limb amputations, and patients with neurotic features or seeking secondary gains were excluded. The diagnosis was made by finding one or more definite, consistent, tender trigger points in the scar in which total, transient relief of pain was provided by injection of bupivacaine. Repeated injections of alcohol into the trigger point proved to be a simple, safe, and effective treatment with permanent cure or marked improvement in 63 (91%) patients.