Neuromodulation in Professional Dancers

University of Seville

Status: Completed

Conditions: Dance; Rehabilitation; Sport Performance; Sports Physical Therapy

Treatments: Other: TENS; Other: PENS

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03596216

NM

Details and patient eligibility

About

Tendinopathy of the flexor hallucis longus (FHL), colloquially referred to as "dancer's tendinitis," is a common condition in dancers and attributed to high demand on this muscle in positions of extreme ankle plantarflexion and metatarsophalangeal (MTP) flexion and extension. Tradicional conservative treatment includes rest from pain-inducing activities including pointe work and jumping, physical therapy a focusing on movilization of the joints of the first ray and subtalar joint, and antiinflamatory medications. Unfortunately, dancer frecuently do not follow recommendations to rest due to the competitive nature of the field. Those who do not respond to conservative treatment undergo more serious interventions including steroid injections or surgery, each with additional risks and recovery time. To develop experimental protocols aimed at prevention and nonsurgical interventions are needed. Therefore, the aim of this study was To investigate the effects of one shot of low-frequency percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS) vs. one shot of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in performance of the Flexor Hallucis Longus muscle in young dancers.

Enrollment: 51 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 30 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Female dancers
• Training at least twenty-five hours per week
• Pointe training at least five hours per week.

Exclusion criteria

• They had sustained an injury to their stance limb in the past year preventing dancing for at least 1 day
• Personal Psychological Apprehension Scale (PPAS) score >37.5
• Commonly accepted contraindications to invasive phsyiotherapist technique
• Any contraindications to needling per se.
• Commonly accepted contraindications to electrotherapy
• Epilepsy.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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51 participants in 2 patient groups

Percutaneous Electrial Stimulation (PES group).

Experimental group

Description:

This intervention consisted in the application of an asymmetric biphasic rectangular current. The subject lay prone with her feet outside the table. The FHL muscle was located at 50% of the distance between the fibular head and inferior border of the lateral malleolus on the posterior aspect of the fibular by ultrasound machine (cross-section) (Logiq, GE Healthcare, USA) and then, a needle (0.30mm x 0.40mm) was inserted, perpendicular to the surface of the skin, until the muscle belly. Prior to inserting a neddle, the underlying skin was cleaned with isopropyl alcohol. The intensity of the current was necessary to cause an exacerbated muscle contraction, during 1.5 min acording to the Valera and Minaya protocol´s. This intervention was performed once in each participant, on one leg only (stance limb), It's only once, it was not a treatment

Treatment:

Other: PENS

Transcutaneous Electrial Stimulation (TENS group)

Experimental group

Description:

This intervention consisted in the application of an asymmetric biphasic rectangular current. The subject lay prone with her feet outside the table. The FHL muscle was located at 50% of the distance between the fibular head and inferior border of the lateral malleolus on the posterior aspect of the fibular by ultrasound machine (cross-section) (Logiq, GE Healthcare, USA),and then, one self-adhesive electrode was placed on the back of the leg and the other on the sole of the foot. The intensity of the current was necessary to cause an exacerbated muscle contraction, during 1.5 min. This intervention was performed once in each participant, on one leg only (stance limb), It's only once, it was not a treatment

Treatment:

Other: TENS