Effect of Dry Needling on Surface Electromyographic Activity in Latent Trigger Points

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Dry Needling (DN) on electromyographic activity in different situations at the latent trigger point (LTrP) point of the upper trapezius. Randomized controlled trial, in parallel with the crossover control design. Two groups with LTrP in the upper trapezius, and the DN group or the Sham-Dn group will be randomly selected.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Trigger Point Pain, Myofascial
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Intervention-Dry Needling; Device: Control-Dry Needling

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 46
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Toledo, Spain, 45071
    • Performance and Sport Rehabilitation Laboratory

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 30 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 18 and 30 years
• The presence of LTrP in the middle third of the upper trapezius muscle onthe dominant side
• Being able to provide written informed consent
• Being able to follow instructions and realize clinical tests

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any pharmacological therapeutic
• Any medical treatment or physical therapies at cervical region during the 6-month before this study
• Any diagnosed health problem
• Any history of head and upper extremity surgery or trauma
• Any red flags to DN, (ie: metabolic diseases, pregnancy, kinesiophobia,Infection, cancer)• Absence of recurrent history of neck pain
• No neck pain symptomatology the previous 6 months
• Cervical disk herniation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: DOUBLE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Deep Dry Needling; Intervention-Dry Needling: Deep Dry Needing into the latent trigger point of the upper trapezius muscle	Device: Intervention-Dry Needling; Deep Dry Needling into the site of the latent TriggerPoint of the upper trapezius muscle. 1 session in upper trapezius muscle moving the needle up and down ten times.
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Sham Dry Needling; Control-Dry Needling: Sham Dry Needling into the latent trigger point of the upper trapezius muscle	Device: Control-Dry Needling; Sham Dry Needling into the site of the latent Trigger Point of the upper trapezius muscle with non-penetrating needles

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in resting surface EMG activity (amplitude, RMS)	EMG activity (RMS) of the upper trapezius after dry needling or sham needling as assessed by the EMG ME 6000 TE(Mega Electronics, Kuopio, Finland). Resting EMG activity will be expressed as a percentage of maximal reference contractions of the upper trapezius (% reference contractions).	Baseline, at 30 minutes after treatment, at 24 hours after treatment, at 72 hours after treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in resting surface EMG activity (Median frequency, MF)	EMG activity (RMS) of the upper trapezius after dry needling or sham needling as assessed by the EMG ME 6000 TE(Mega Electronics, Kuopio, Finland). EMG median frequency will be used to determine the endurance of the upper trapezius. The EMG median frequency will be measured in Hertz (Hz).	Baseline, at 30 minutes after treatment, at 24 hours after treatment, at 72 hours after treatment
Changes in submaximal contrations surface EMG activity of upper trapezius (amplitude, RMS)	EMG activity (RMS) of the upper trapezius after dry needling or sham needling as assessed by the EMG ME 6000 TE(Mega Electronics, Kuopio, Finland). EMG activity of submaximal contractions will be expressed as a percentage of submaximal reference contractions of the upper trapezius (% reference contractions).	Baseline, at 30 minutes after treatment, at 24 hours after treatment, at 7submaximal contractions EMG activity will be expressed as a percentage of maximal reference contractions of the upper trapezius (% reference contractions).2 hours after treatment
Changes in submaximal contrations surface EMG activity of upper trapezius (Median frequency, MF)	EMG activity (RMS) of the upper trapezius after dry needling or sham needling as assessed by the EMG ME 6000 TE(Mega Electronics, Kuopio, Finland). EMG median frequency will be used to determine the endurance of the upper trapezius. The EMG median frequency will be measured in Hertz (Hz).	Baseline, at 30 minutes after treatment, at 24 hours after treatment, at 72 hours after treatment
Change in Pain Pressure Threshold (PPT)	Pressure-Pain Threshold as assessed by an manual mechanical algometer. PPT is the minimal amount of pressure that produces pain and is used to assess abnormalities in nociceptive processing or hyperalgesia.	Baseline, at 30 minutes after treatment, at 24 hours after treatment, at 72 hours after treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Castilla-La Mancha
• Investigators: Study Director: Javier Abián-Vicén, PhD, University of Castilla-La Mancha

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): January 4, 2021
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): February 4, 2021
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): February 18, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 21, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 21, 2020
• First Posted (ACTUAL): December 28, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): February 21, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 18, 2021
• Last Verified: December 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Electromyography; Dry needling; Latent trigger point
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Musculoskeletal Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Myofascial Pain Syndromes
• Other Study ID Numbers: DNEMG

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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