ArticlePain reports
Dry needling has lasting analgesic effect in shoulder pain: a double-blind, sham-controlled trial.
Article in Pain reports. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dry needling as an adjunct treatment to multimodal rehabilitation protocol following rotator cuff repair surgery: a preliminary, randomized sham-controlled trial.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2024Trial
- Placebo response varies between different types of sham acupuncture: A randomized double-blind trial in neck pain patients.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2022Trial
- The consistency of reporting adverse events associated with dry needling: a narrative review.The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association · 2026Article
- Survey of Korean Medicine Doctors' Practices in Treating Shoulder Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Spectral Analysis of Bioelectrical Activity in Experimentally Provoked Referred Pain - Motor Alterations Related to the Network of Trigger Points.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Elite Tennis Players with a Weak Rotator Cuff: The Paradox of Infraspinatus Atrophy - A Clinical Commentary and Practical Approach.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2025Article
- Ultrasound verification of palpation-based dry needling techniques of rotator cuff muscles: a prospective feasibility trial.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2024Observational
- Lack of standardization in dry needling dosage and adverse event documentation limits outcome and safety reports: a scoping review of randomized clinical trials.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2023Article
- Dissecting central post-stroke pain: a controlled symptom-psychophysical characterization.Brain communications · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMyofascial pain syndrome (MPS) affects most patients with chronic shoulder pain. Dry needling (DN) is a common treatment for MPS, but its temporal pattern and sensory effects remain unknown.
objectivesWe evaluated in a randomized, sham-controlled study the pattern of analgesic efficacy and local sensory changes of a single session of DN for MPS in patients with chronic shoulder pain.
methodsPatients with chronic shoulder pain were randomized into active (n = 20) or sham (n = 21) groups. A single DN was performed by a researcher blinded to group assignment and pain outcomes. Pain intensity was assessed by the numeric rating score, and sensory thresholds were evaluated with a quantitative sensory testing protocol, including the area of tactile sensory abnormalities 7 days before needling, right before, and 7 days after the intervention.
resultsDry needling led to significant larger pain intensity reduction (from 6.30 ± 2.05 to 2.40 ± 2.45 in the active group;
conclusionActive trigger points DN provided analgesic effects compared with sham and decreased the area of local mechanical hyperalgesia. These findings have practical clinical implications and may provide mechanistic insights behind MPS.
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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.