Dry needling in the management of myofascial trigger points: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Luis Espejo-Antúnez; Jaime Fernández-Huertas Tejeda; Manuel Albornoz-Cabello; Juan Rodríguez-Mansilla; Blanca de la Cruz-Torres; Fernando Ribeiro; Anabela G Silva

doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2017.06.003

Dry needling in the management of myofascial trigger points: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Complement Ther Med. 2017 Aug:33:46-57. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2017.06.003. Epub 2017 Jun 15.

Authors

Luis Espejo-Antúnez¹, Jaime Fernández-Huertas Tejeda², Manuel Albornoz-Cabello³, Juan Rodríguez-Mansilla², Blanca de la Cruz-Torres³, Fernando Ribeiro⁴, Anabela G Silva⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical-Surgical Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Extremadura University, Elvas Avenue s/n Badajoz, Spain. Electronic address: luisea@unex.es.
² Department of Medical-Surgical Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Extremadura University, Elvas Avenue s/n Badajoz, Spain.
³ Department of Physiotherapy, University of Sevilla, C/Avicena s/n Sevilla, Spain.
⁴ School of Health Sciencesand Institute of Biomedicine - iBiMED, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
⁵ School of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, and CINTESIS.UA, Aveiro, Portugal.

PMID: 28735825
DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2017.06.003

Abstract

Objective: This systematic review of randomized controlled trials aimed to examine the effectiveness of dry needling in the treatment of myofascial trigger points and to explore the impact of specific aspects of the technique on its effectiveness.

Methods: Relevant studies published between 2000 and 2015 were identified by searching PubMed, Scopus, The Cochrane Library and Physiotherapy Evidence Database. Studies identified by electronic searches were screened against a set of pre-defined inclusion criteria.

Results: Fifteen studies were included in this systematic review. The main outcomes that were measured were pain, range of motion, disability, depression and quality of life. The results suggest that dry needling is effective in the short term for pain relief, increase range of motion and improve quality of life when compared to no intervention/sham/placebo. There is insufficient evidence on its effect on disability, analgesic medication intake and sleep quality.

Conclusions: Despite some evidence for a positive effect in the short term, further randomized clinical trials of high methodological quality, using standardized procedures for the application of dry needling are needed.

Keywords: Dry needling; Myofascial pain syndrome; Myofascial trigger point; Pain.

Publication types

Review
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Activities of Daily Living
Acupuncture Therapy / methods*
Humans
Myofascial Pain Syndromes / therapy*
Needles*
Pain Management*
Pain*
Physical Therapy Modalities*
Quality of Life
Range of Motion, Articular
Trigger Points*