Dry Needling Versus Intramuscular Stimulation in the Management of the Myofascial Trigger Points

Effectiveness of Dry Needling and Intramuscular Electrostimulation in the Treatment of Myofascial Trigger Points in Patients With Neck Pain

Hypothesis The application of intramuscular electrostimulation will be more effectiveness than the dry needling in myofascial trigger points treatment.

Objetives:

To determine the effectiveness of intramuscular electrostimulation in the treatment of trigger points of the levator scapula muscle for the improvement of pain in mechanical cervicalgia.

Participants: Subjects with diagnosed of myofascial pain syndrome in cervical region and active trigger points in levator scapulae muscle, randomly assigned to experimental or control group.

Intervention: Control group: one session of dry needling in active trigger points; experimental group: one session of intramuscular stimulation in active trigger points.

Main Outcomes Measures: Pain, pressure pain threshold (PPT), active cervical range of motion and strength muscle . The measures will be taken before, after and one week after the interventions.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Muscle Pain; Myofascial Pain Syndrome; Trigger Point Pain, Myofascial
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Dry needling and electric stimulation; Other: Dry needling

Detailed Description

The muscle pain is one of the most common forms of musculoskeletal pain. Within muscular pain, the presence of myofascial trigger points (PG) in the musculature is a important and prevalent problem.

Currently one the techniques most used in the treatment of PG is dry needling. Dry needling has been shown effective in the treatment of neck pain associated with PGs.

To our knowledge, there are no studies that they have compared the effectiveness of dry needling and intramuscular stimulation by applying an electric current.

This study is a randomized clinical trial that aims to demonstrate that the application of an electric current associated with dry needling in the treatment of PG.

In this study we will treat subjects with cervical pain who they have active PGs in the levator scapulae muscle.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Madrid
    • Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain, 28806
      • Patricia Martinez Merinero

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Cervical pain.
• Active trigger points in levator scapulae muscle

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pain Irradiation toward upper limb
• Psychological disorders
• Whiplash.
• Neuropathic symptoms
• Cervical and / or Shoulder Spine Surgery

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental group; Dry needling technique and the application of a rectangular, biphasic, asymmetric analgesic electric current by selecting a frequency of 2 Hz with a pulse width 40 μs, with an intensity located at the tolerance threshold and for a time of 20 minutes.	Other: Dry needling and electric stimulation; Dry needling technique and the application of electric stimulation of levator scapulae PG
Active Comparator: Control group; Dry technique in PG.The needle will be moved in-and-out into different directions to encounter sensitive spots in PG region.	Other: Dry needling; Treatment of PG with a filiform needle in levator scapulae muscle

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT)	An algometer Wagner FPI 10-WA will be used to determine the PPT in levator scapulae trigger points	Change from baseline at one week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pain Visual Analogue Scale	The pain VAS is a unidimensional measure of pain intensity, which has been widely used in diverse adult populations. The VAS is a straight horizontal line of fixed length, usually 100 mm. The ends are defined as the extreme limits of the parameter to be measured from 0 (no pain) to 10 (maximum pain). All the subjects will showed their pain level.	Change from baseline at one week
Strength in cervical latero-flexion	Dynamic dynamometry with MicroFet-2 will be used while patients will positioned in seated. From this position, patients will performed lateral - flexion	Change from baseline at one week

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Alcala
• Investigators: Study Director: Tomás Gallego-Izquierdo, Doctor, Alcala University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 16, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 16, 2017
• First Posted (Estimate): January 19, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 26, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 23, 2021
• Last Verified: February 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Rheumatic Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Musculoskeletal Pain; Myalgia; Fibromyalgia; Myofascial Pain Syndromes
• Other Study ID Numbers: M2012119/20130409

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No