Dry Needling and Pain Education in the Treatment of Chronic Neck Pain

Dry Needling and Pain Neuroscience Education in Chronic Pain Patients

to compare the effects on pain, disability and psychological factors of the combination of MTrP dry needling and pain neuroscience education to MTrPs dry needing alone and control electrotherapy usual care in patients with chronic neck pain.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pain, Neck
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Dry needling; Other: Conventional treatment; Other: Pain neuroscience education

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Madrid
    • San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid, Spain, 28702
      • Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofía

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Mechanical neck pain for at least 12 weeks
• 10% or higher on the Neck Disability Index questionnaire
• 20mm or higher on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of neck pain
• Presence of at least one active myofascial trigger point

Exclusion Criteria:

• Neck pain associated with whiplash injuries
• Medical red flag history (i.e., tumour, fracture, metabolic diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis)
• Neck pain with cervical radiculopathy
• Neck pain associated with externalized cervical disc herniation
• Fibromyalgia syndrome
• Previous neck surgery
• Neck pain accompanied by vertigo caused by vertebrobasilar insufficiency or accompanied by non-cervicogenic headaches

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Dry needling; Received Dry needling in the neck muscles.	Other: Dry needling; Insertion of solid filament needles in the muscle
Active Comparator: Conventional treatment; the participants received the conventional treatment for non-specific neck pain.	Other: Conventional treatment; Electrotherapy: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and microwaves
Experimental: Dry needling and pain neuroscience education; Received the same treatment as dry needling group and pain education.	Other: Dry needling; Insertion of solid filament needles in the muscle; Other: Pain neuroscience education; Explanation of the functioning of the central nervous system, the differences between acute pain and chronic pain and the importance of thoughts and beliefs in the processing and chronification of pain

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pain using Visual Analogue Scale	Visual Analogue Scale: consists of a line of 100mm which represents the "no pain" on the left side of the same and the "worst pain imaginable" on the right side	3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Medication intake	Medication use: number of pills	3 months
Disability using Neck Disability Index	Neck disability index: patients ability to function in daily life activities.	3 months
Kinesiophobia using Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia	Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia: participants pain-related fear of movement and (re)injury	3 months
Catastrophizing using Pain Catastrophizing Scale	Pain Catastrophizing Scale: propensity to catastrophize about pain	3 months
Pain anxiety using Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale	Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale: The anxiety behaviors associated with pain	3 months
Beck Depression Inventory-II	Self-report measure to assess the severity of depressive symptoms	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Valiente-Castrillo P, Martin-Pintado-Zugasti A, Calvo-Lobo C, Beltran-Alacreu H, Fernandez-Carnero J. Effects of pain neuroscience education and dry needling for the management of patients with chronic myofascial neck pain: a randomized clinical trial. Acupunct Med. 2021 Apr;39(2):91-105. doi: 10.1177/0964528420920300. Epub 2020 May 5.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 14, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): September 5, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 14, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 28, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): March 29, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 8, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 5, 2017
• Last Verified: September 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Neck Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: 03/2017

Drug and device information, study documents

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