Dry Needling, Manual Therapy and Exercise for Neck Pain Management

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Neck Pain, Posterior
• Interventions: Other: Dry Needling; Behavioral: Therapeutic Exercise; Other: Manual Therapy; Other: Sham Dry Needling

• Registration Number: NCT05607459
• Lead Sponsor: Camilo Jose Cela University

Brief Summary

Since neck pain is the fourth highest disabling condition (with an estimated point prevalence of 20%, lifetime prevalence up to 70% and high recurrence rates), dry needling targeting myofascial trigger points in neck muscles has been proposed as an effective treatment for reducing pain and disability in patients with chronic neck pain.

A recent meta-analysis reported whether dry needling could be recommended for this population. Low to moderate evidence suggests that dry needling can be effective at the short-term, but its effects on pressure pain sensitivity or cervical range of motion are limited.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2022-10-28
• Study Start: 2022-11-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-11-03
• Study First Posted: 2022-11-07
• Status Verified: 2025-02
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-02-19
• Last Update Posted: 2025-02-20
• Primary Completion: 2025-03-28
• Study Completion: 2025-03-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

• To be between 18 and 65 years old
• To have been experiencing unilateral neck pain for at least 3 months
• To have a Neck Disability Index (NDI) score >8
• To have a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score >3
• To have at least one active MTrP located in the upper trapezius or cervical multifidus muscles

Exclusion Criteria

• History of whiplash injury
• Previous cervical surgery
• Cervical radiculopathy or myelopathy
• Diagnosis of fibromyalgia
• Additional analgesic treatments during the study (e.g. physiotherapy or drugs)
• Psychiatric disorders
• Any contraindication to the interventions proposed (e.g. fear of needles or anticoagulants)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Dry Needling Group	Manual Therapy	This group will receive dry needling, manual therapy (consisting of a manual compression over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus) and therapeutic exercise interventions
Dry Needling Group	Dry Needling	This group will receive dry needling, manual therapy (consisting of a manual compression over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus) and therapeutic exercise interventions
Dry Needling Group	Therapeutic Exercise	This group will receive dry needling, manual therapy (consisting of a manual compression over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus) and therapeutic exercise interventions
Sham Dry Needling Group	Therapeutic Exercise	This group will receive manual therapy (consisting of a manual compression over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus), therapeutic exercise interventions and a previously described sham dry needling intervention.
Sham Dry Needling Group	Sham Dry Needling	This group will receive manual therapy (consisting of a manual compression over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus), therapeutic exercise interventions and a previously described sham dry needling intervention.
Sham Dry Needling Group	Manual Therapy	This group will receive manual therapy (consisting of a manual compression over myofascial trigger points located at the upper trapezius muscle, scalene muscles and cervical multifidus), therapeutic exercise interventions and a previously described sham dry needling intervention.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Visual Analogue Scale	Twelve months follow-up	A 100mm visual analogue scale will be used. The patient will indicate the level of pain intensity from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Pittsburg Sleeping Quality Index	Twelve months follow-up	This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the sleeping quality. Scores range from 0 (best sleep quality) to 21 (worst sleep quality)
Neck Disability Index	Twelve months follow-up	This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the neck pain disability. Scores range from 0 (absence of disability) to 100 (worst disability).
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale	Twelve months follow-up	This is a validated self-reported questionnaire assessing the level of anxiety and depression in two subscales (HADS-A and HADS-D). Scores for each scale range from 0 to 21 points, where lower scores are associated with lower depressive and anxiety levels.
Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia	Twelve months follow-up	The scale consist of 11 items where patients have to choose in a 4-point Likert scale how much they agree with each item, being 1 "complete disagreement" and 4 "complete agreement" (total score from 0 to 44), where higher scores indicate greater kinesiophobia.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Juan Antonio Valera-Calero; 🇪🇸 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain