Dry Needling Combined With a Therapeutic Exercise Program in Myofascial Pain Syndrome: Sonographic Evaluation of Cervical Muscles

Istanbul Training and Research Hospital

Status

Completed

Conditions

Myofascial Pain of Upper Trapezius Muscle

Myofascial Pain Syndrome - Neck

Treatments

Procedure: Dry Needling

Behavioral: Therapeutic Exercise Program

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT06809790

18/09/2024 2024-KAEK-30;114;

Details and patient eligibility

About

Patients between the ages of 20-65 years who present to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinics of our hospital with complaints of back and neck pain and are diagnosed with myofascial pain syndrome will be referred to the physicians responsible for the study to be included in the study. Exclusion criteria will be reviewed, and patients with chronic pain for more than 3 months and an active trigger point in the unilateral upper trapezius muscle will be included in the study. Patients will be randomly divided into two groups; the first group will receive only exercise therapy (including cervical range of motion and trapezius stretching), and the second group will receive exercise and dry needling therapy (1 time per week, 3 sessions in total). Demographic data (age, gender, body mass index, occupation) of all patients included in the study will be recorded. The relationship between pain and loss of function according to the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Short Form 36 (SF-36), and Neck Disability Index (NDI) scales will be recorded. Bilateral upper trapezius, sternocleidomastoideus, and total cervical extensor muscle thickness (upper trapezius, splenius capitis, semispinalis capitis, semispinalis cervicis, and multifidus) and longus colli muscle thickness measurements will be made with the ultrasonography device in our clinic. The first group will receive only exercise therapy after the measurements. Patients in the second group will receive a total of 3 sessions of dry needling treatment to the trapezius muscle for active trigger points at 0, 1, and 2 weeks in addition to exercise therapy. After the initial examination, control VAS, SF-36, NDI, and control ultrasonographic measurements will be performed in all patients at the 3rd week and 6th week. Using data analysis methods, the effect of dry needling treatment for active trigger points in the trapezius muscle on pain and functionality as well as the thickness of the cervical muscles will be investigated.

Enrollment

73 patients

Sex

All

Ages

20 to 65 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Patients aged 20-65 years with neck pain for more than 12 weeks
Active trigger point in the unilateral upper trapezius muscle on physical examination
Who agreed not to receive anti-inflammatory and myorelaxant treatment during the study period

Exclusion criteria

Patients diagnosed with rheumatologic diseases
Patients with radiculopathy
Patients with a history of previous surgery in the shoulder, back, and neck region
Patients with polyneuropathy
Patients with severe cervical spondylosis
Patients with cerebrovascular events
Patients with malignancies
Those with cognitive impairment
Those with bleeding disorders
Patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia
Patients with thyroidectomy
Anti-inflammatory-analgesic or myorelaxant treatment within the last 1 month
Patients with a history of injection into the upper trapezius muscle or cervical region within the last 3 months