ReviewLife (Basel, Switzerland)2022
The Effectiveness of Dry Needling in Patients with Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Life (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effects of dry needling combined with exercise on knee osteoarthritis at 6 month follow up a randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of dry needling combined with exercise therapy versus exercise alone for pain and functional outcomes in knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2026Article
- Electromyographic Activity of Cervical Muscles in Patients with Neck Pain and Changes After Dry Needling: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Non-pharmacological and non-surgical interventions to manage patients with knee osteoarthritis: An umbrella review 5-year update.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2024Review
- Reliability of muscle stiffness measures in popliteus, medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles by ultrasound shear wave elastography in participants with knee osteoarthritis accompanied by myofascial trigger points.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Pneumothorax as a complication of dry needling technique.ERJ open research · 2024Article
- Why Kinematic Alignment Makes Little Sense in Valgus Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOsteoarthritis is one of the most common degenerative joint diseases. The main symptoms of the osteoarthritis have been linked to the presence of myofascial trigger points in the soft tissues. Dry needing (DN) is the most investigated technique for the treatment of myofascial trigger points. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of DN in pain and physical function in patients with osteoarthritis in the short-, medium- and long-term.
methodsPubMed, Cochrane Library, PEDro, Web of Science, and SCOPUS databases were searched in September 2022. Randomized controlled trials involving DN compared to non-pharmacological interventions, sham techniques or no additional treatment were selected. Quality of the studies was assessed with PEDro scale and risk of bias with Cochrane Collaboration tool. Meta-analyses were conducted using fixed or random effects models according to the Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions.
resultsSeven studies were included in the meta-analysis involving 291 patients with osteoarthritis. The methodological quality of the included studies ranged from fair to high. DN showed significant improvements in pain intensity (SMD = -0.76; 95% CI: -1.24, -0.29; I
conclusionsVery low-quality evidence suggests a positive effect of DN for reducing pain intensity and improving physical function in the short term in patients with osteoarthritis. Further investigation is needed to determine a medium- and long-term effects.
Indexed as
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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.