SynthesisCurrent pain and headache reports2014
Dry needling for management of pain in the upper quarter and craniofacial region.
Synthesis in Current pain and headache reports, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03028012 (Double-blind, Prospective Comparison of Medications Used in Trigger Point Injections - Ketorolac, Lidocaine, or Dexamethasone), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Double-blind, Prospective Comparison of Medications Used in Trigger Point Injections - Ketorolac, Lidocaine, or Dexamethasone
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dry Needling in Treatment of Temporomandibular Joint Disorders: A Systematic Review.Clinical and experimental dental research · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Dry Needling in Improving Pain and Function in Comparison with Other Techniques in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Pain research & management · 2023Pooled it
- Comparison of Early Effectiveness of Three Different Intervention Methods in Patients with Chronic Orofacial Pain: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.Pain research & management · 2019Trial
- Therapeutic effects of dry needling in patients with upper trapezius myofascial trigger points.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2017Trial
- Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach in the Management of Temporomandibular Disorders: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Review
- Publication Trends in Rehabilitative Effects of Acupuncture: A Visual Analysis of the Literature.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- A comparison of dry needling and kinesiotaping therapies in myofascial pain syndrome: A randomized clinical study.Turkish journal of physical medicine and rehabilitation · 2020Article
- Beneficial Effects of Dry Needling for Treatment of Chronic Myofascial Pain Persist for 6 Weeks After Treatment Completion.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2017Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dry needling is a therapeutic intervention that has been growing in popularity. It is primarily used with patients that have pain of myofascial origin. This review provides background about dry needling, myofascial pain, and craniofacial pain. We summarize the evidence regarding the effectiveness of dry needling. For patients with upper quarter myofascial pain, a 2013 systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled studies reported that dry needling is effective in reducing pain (especially immediately after treatment) in patients with upper quarter pain. There have been fewer studies of patients with craniofacial pain and myofascial pain in other regions, but most of these studies report findings to suggest the dry needling may be helpful in reducing pain and improving other pain related variables such as the pain pressure threshold. More rigorous randomized controlled trials are clearly needed to more fully elucidate the effectiveness of dry needling.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.