Clinical trial NCT02169700: Ischemic Compression on Post-needling Soreness
Official title: Ischemic Compression After Dry Needling of a Latent Myofascial Trigger Point Reduces Post-needling Soreness Intensity and Duration.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Neck Pain
Keywords: Ischemic compression
Myofascial trigger points
Post-needling soreness
Lead sponsor: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2014-06-23
Enrollment: 90
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 39
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) are identified through physical examination as hypersensitive spots within taut bands of skeletal muscle, painful on compression, triggering characteristic referred pain and generating motor dysfunction as well as autonomic phenomena. Different dry needling procedures have been described in the treatment of MTrPs. Needling therapies which consist in partially inserting and withdrawing the needle from the trigger point site in order to elicit local twitch responses are associated with higher effectiveness in releasing MTrPs. Deep dry needling has obtained a grade A recommendation compared to sham, for immediate reduction of pain in patients with upper-quadrant myofascial pain syndrome. Nevertheless, trigger point dry needling are frequently associated to a post-needling soreness. The application of ischemic compression (IC) after trigger point injection in the upper trapezius muscle has shown higher reduction of pain and disability in myofascial pain patients, compared with trigger point injection alone. To the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have evaluated the effectiveness of IC or any manual therapy methods for the treatment of post-needling soreness. The aims of this study were: (a) to evaluate the effectiveness of IC on reducing post-needling soreness after dry needling of one latent MTrP in the upper trapezius muscle, and (b) to investigate the effect dry needling combined with IC, compared to dry needling alone and dry needling combined with placebo IC will have on cervical range of motion (c) to determine whether psychological factors are predictive of postneedling pain and (d) to analyze if the relationships between psychological variables and postneedling pain varied as a function of postneedling soreness treatment


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Subjects were included if they presented at least one latent MTrP in the upper trapezius muscle

Exclusion Criteria:

* Presence of coagulation disorders
* Neck or facial pain
* Previous application of a dry needling technique
* MTrP therapy in head or neck within the previous 3 months
* Fibromyalgia
* An insurmountable fear of needles as a reason of refusing the treatment
* History of surgery in the head or neck area

Primary outcomes:
measure: Visual analog scale (VAS)
timeFrame: From Baseline in pain intensity at during needling and at 72 hours
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Cervical Range of Motion (CROM)
timeFrame: CROM measurements were taken before needling, after the intervention, and at 24 and 72 hours post-treatment.
Other outcomes:
measure: Psychological variables
timeFrame: Before dry needling intervention
Locations:
city: Alcorcón
country: Spain
facility: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
state: Madrid
Study officials:
affiliation: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
name: Josué Fernández Carnero, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Martin-Pintado-Zugasti A, Pecos-Martin D, Rodriguez-Fernandez AL, Alguacil-Diego IM, Portillo-Aceituno A, Gallego-Izquierdo T, Fernandez-Carnero J. Ischemic Compression After Dry Needling of a Latent Myofascial Trigger Point Reduces Postneedling Soreness Intensity and Duration. PM R. 2015 Oct;7(10):1026-1034. doi: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2015.03.021. Epub 2015 Mar 31.