Dry Needling Versus Trigger Point Injection for Neck Pain Symptoms Associated with Myofascial Trigger Points

Objective To examine the effects of dry needling against trigger point (TrP) injections (wet needling) applied to TrPs associated with neck pain. Methods Electronic databases were searched for randomized clinical trials in which dry needling was compared with TrP injections (wet needling) applied to...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Navarro Santana, Marcos José, Sánchez-Infante Gómez-Escalonilla, Jorge, Gómez Chiguano, Guido Fabián, Cleland, Joshua A., Fernández de las Peñas, César, Martín Casas, Patricia, Plaza Manzano, Gustavo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/35473
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10578/35473
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Dry Needling
Trigger Point Injection
Lidocaine: Meta-Analysis
Cervical Pain
Pain
Systematic Review
Descripción
Sumario:Objective To examine the effects of dry needling against trigger point (TrP) injections (wet needling) applied to TrPs associated with neck pain. Methods Electronic databases were searched for randomized clinical trials in which dry needling was compared with TrP injections (wet needling) applied to neck muscles and in which outcomes on pain or pain-related disability were collected. Secondary outcomes consisted of pressure pain thresholds, cervical mobility, and psychological factors. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool, the Physiotherapy Evidence Database score, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach were used. Results Six trials were included. TrP injection reduced pain intensity (mean difference [MD ] –2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] –3.22 to –1.03) with a large effect size (standardized mean difference [SMD] –1.46, 95% CI –2.27 to –0.65) as compared with dry needling. No differences between TrP injection and dry needling were found for pain-related disability (MD 0.9, 95% CI –3.09 to 4.89), pressure pain thresholds (MD 25.78 kPa, 95% CI –6.43 to 57.99 kPa), cervical lateral-flexion (MD 2.02°, 95% CI –0.19° to 4.24°), or depression (SMD –0.22, 95% CI –0.85 to 0.41). The risk of bias was low, but the heterogenicity and imprecision of results downgraded the evidence level. Conclusion Low evidence suggests a superior effect of TrP injection (wet needling) for decreasing pain of cervical muscle TrPs in the short term as compared with dry needling. No significant effects on other outcomes (very low-quality evidence) were observed.