Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the current evidence of the effectiveness of dry needling of myofascial
trigger points (MTrPs) associated with low back pain (LBP).
Data Sources
PubMed, Ovid, EBSCO, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and
China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were searched until January 2017.
Study Selection
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used dry needling as the main treatment and
included participants diagnosed with LBP with the presence of MTrPs were included.
Data Extraction
Two reviewers independently screened articles, scored methodologic quality, and extracted
data. The primary outcomes were pain intensity and functional disability at postintervention
and follow-up.
Data Synthesis
A total of 11 RCTs involving 802 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Results
suggested that compared with other treatments, dry needling of MTrPs was more effective
in alleviating the intensity of LBP (standardized mean difference [SMD], −1.06; 95%
confidence interval [CI], −1.77 to −0.36; P=.003) and functional disability (SMD, −0.76; 95% CI, −1.46 to −0.06; P=.03); however, the significant effects of dry needling plus other treatments on pain
intensity could be superior to dry needling alone for LBP at postintervention (SMD,
0.83; 95% CI, 0.55–1.11; P<.00001).
Conclusions
Moderate evidence showed that dry needling of MTrPs, especially if associated with
other therapies, could be recommended to relieve the intensity of LBP at postintervention;
however, the clinical superiority of dry needling in improving functional disability
and its follow-up effects still remains unclear.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CI (confidence interval), LBP (low back pain), MD (mean difference), MTrP (myofascial trigger point), Nfs (fail-safe number), RCT (randomized controlled trial), SMD (standardized mean difference)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 06, 2017
Footnotes
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81470105).
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
