Acupuncture and Dry Needling in Peripheral Acute Fatigue Reduction

Acupuncture and Dry Needling in Peripheral Acute Fatigue Reduction Induced in Biceps Brachialis: Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Neuromuscular fatigue is defined when the muscle becomes incapable of generating muscle power or strength after exercise or long repetitive activities. As well as, the inability to maintain optimum performance and generate maximum voluntary contractions during a physical exercise. When performing physical activity, the body's metabolic response increases proportionally to exercise to satisfy the demands of the human physiological. Part of the energy accumulated during exercise is lost to the environment in the form of heat and another part is maintained internally through the physiological control for thermoregulation. In addition, the muscle generates an electric signal important to determine its status regarding power and fatigue.

Objective: To investigate the reduction of acute peripheral fatigue induced by isometric contractions from acupuncture and dry needling techniques, compared to absolute rest.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and experimental study, with descriptive, analytical and quantitative approach. It follows the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines. The volunteers will be gathered according to the eligibility criteria, and randomly divided in 3 groups: the control group (G1), the volunteers who will remain in prolonged rest; the acupuncture group (G2), in which volunteers will receive six needles in six acupoints in the non-dominant upper limb and the dry needling group (G3), in which the volunteers will receive application of six needles arranged in the non-dominant biceps brachialis.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sedentary Lifestyle; Males
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Acupuncture; Procedure: Dry needling

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 45
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Brazil
  • Pernambuco
    • Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, 50670-901
      • Laboratory of Kinesiotherapy and Manual Therapeutic Resources, Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE)

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 40 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male individuals, aged between 18 and 40 years and who are not practicing regular physical activity (sedentary lifestyle).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Are using food supplementation;
• Have joint or bone lesions on the limb to be studied;
• Have problems of metabolic order;
• Use of hormone therapy;
• Have had caffeine in the two hours before the study;
• Have ulceration or wounds in the electrode application region for electromyography;
• Show absence of myofascial trigger points in areas of dry needling technique;
• Body Mass Index below normal values or higher than overweight.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control Group; The volunteers who will remain in prolonged rest (10 minutes for homeostasis plus 30 minutes of no intervention).
Experimental: Acupuncture Group; The volunteers will receive six needles in six acupoints in the non-dominant upper limb for 30 minutes.	Procedure: Acupuncture; Six needled will be inserted in six already defined acupoints along the non-dominant upper limb for a period of 30 minutes.
Experimental: Dry needling Group; The volunteers will receive application of six needles arranged in the non-dominant biceps brachialis for 30 minutes.	Procedure: Dry needling; Six needles will be inserted in six predefined points along the volunteers non-dominant biceps brachialis for 30 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Perception of muscle fatigue	Fatigue perception measured by Visual Analog Scale for fatigue assessment, graduated from 0,00 to 10,0 centimeters, being 0,00 no fatigue and 10,0 maximum fatigue.	60 minutes
Muscle temperature	Infrared thermographic Imaging analysis of acute peripheral muscle fatigue.	60 minutes
Muscle fatigue	Electromyographic activity (in microvolts) of the biceps brachii muscle to assess muscle fatigue through the median frequency (MF).	60 minutes

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Contraction time	The time of intermittent isometric contractions was delimited by the number of valid contractions during each exercise	60 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Antonino GB, Paula de Lima Ferreira A, Nepomuceno Montenegro EJ, Galvao de Moura Filho A, Freire da Silva AF, de Araujo MDGR. Acupuncture and Dry Needling in the Reduction of Peripheral Acute Fatigue Induced in the Biceps Braquii: Protocol for a Single-blinded Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2020 Oct;13(5):163-166. doi: 10.1016/j.jams.2020.08.001. Epub 2020 Sep 1.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 26, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 16, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): December 21, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 21, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): February 27, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 2, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 10, 2022
• Last Verified: February 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Acupuncture; Dry needling; Thermography; Muscle fatigue
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Fatigue
• Other Study ID Numbers: Muscle Fatigue, Acupunture and; UFPE (CAAE N. 79139717.6.0000.5208)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No