ArticlePM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation2017
Beneficial Effects of Dry Needling for Treatment of Chronic Myofascial Pain Persist for 6 Weeks After Treatment Completion.
Article in PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurophysiological effects of latent trigger point dry needling on spinal reflexes.Journal of neurophysiology · 2025Trial
- Dry needling in active or latent trigger point in patients with neck pain: a randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Rate and maintenance of improvement of myofascial pain with dry needling alone vs. dry needling with intramuscular electrical stimulation: a randomized controlled trial.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2021Trial
- Dry needling versus trigger point compression of the upper trapezius: a randomized clinical trial with two-week and three-month follow-up.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2019Trial
- Multidimensional analysis of the clinical spectrum and symptom burden of unexplained myofascial pain.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Assessment of real-world, prospective outcomes in patients treated with cervical radiofrequency ablation for chronic pain (RAPID).Interventional pain medicine · 2025Article
- Research Trends in Dry Needling for Neck Pain Treatment: A Bibliometric Analysis.Journal of chiropractic humanities · 2024Review
- Article
- Cannabidiol for musculoskeletal regenerative medicine.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2023Review
- A Targeted Approach to Post-Mastectomy Pain and Persistent Pain following Breast Cancer Treatment.Cancers · 2021Review
- A Comprehensive Review of the Treatment and Management of Myofascial Pain Syndrome.Current pain and headache reports · 2020Review
- Dry needling for spine related disorders: a scoping review.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2020Article
- Needling: is there a point?The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2019Article
- Ultrasound-Guided Physiological Saline Injection for Patients with Myofascial Pain.Journal of medical ultrasoundArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDry needling is an effective treatment for reducing pain associated with active myofascial trigger points (a-MTrPs) in the short term. The duration of the benefits of this treatment have not been fully assessed.
objectiveTo determine whether the benefits of dry needling (DN) of a-MTrPs are sustained 6 weeks posttreatment.
designFollow-up of a prospective study.
settingUniversity.
participantsA total of 45 patients (13 male and 32 female) with cervical pain >3 months and a-MTrPs in the upper trapezius who completed 3 DN treatments and who were evaluated 6 weeks posttreatment.
interventionsNone.
main outcome measuresPrimary outcomes were changes from baseline to follow-up in scores for the verbal analogue scale (VAS), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), and MTrP status. MTrPs were rated as active (spontaneously painful), latent (painful only on compression), and nonpalpable nodule. Responders were patients whose MTrP status changed from active to latent or nonpalpable nodule (resolved). Secondary outcomes were pain pressure threshold (PPT), Profile of Mood States, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), MOS 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and cervical range of motion.
resultsPain measures remained significantly improved 6 weeks posttreatment (P < .003), as did the SF-36 physical functioning score (0.01) and ODI (P = .002). Side bending and PPT for subjects with unilateral MTrPs had sustained improvement (P = .002). The number of subjects with sustained MTrP response at 6 weeks was significant (P < .001). Comparing responders to nonresponders, the changes in VAS and BPI were statistically significant (P = .006, P = .03) but the change in PPT was not. Patients with higher baseline VAS scores had a higher risk of not responding to DN; those with a greater drop in VAS score from baseline had a higher probability of sustained response. A 1-unit decrease in VAS at baseline resulted in a 6.3-fold increase in the odds of being a responder versus a nonresponder (P = .008).
conclusionsIn this study, there was sustained reduction of pain scores after completion of DN, which is more likely with a greater drop in VAS score. Patients with higher baseline VAS scores are less likely to respond to DN. Early intervention toward significant pain reduction is likely to be associated with sustained clinical response. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.
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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.