Abstract
Objective
To investigate the short-term effects of dry needling (DN) on physical function, pain,
and hip muscle strength in patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA).
Design
A double-blind, placebo-control, randomized controlled trial.
Setting
Private practice physiotherapy clinic.
Participants
Patients with unilateral hip OA (N=45) were randomly allocated to a DN group, sham
DN group, or control group.
Interventions
Patients in the DN and sham groups received 3 treatment sessions. Three active myofascial
trigger points (MTrPs) were treated in each session with DN or a sham needle procedure.
The treatment was applied in active MTrPs of the iliopsoas, rectus femoris, tensor
fasciae latae, and gluteus minimus muscles.
Main Outcome Measures
Physical function was assessed with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities
(WOMAC) physical function subscale, the timed Up and Go test, and the 40-meter self-paced
walk test. Intensity of hip pain related to physical function was evaluated using
the visual analog scale and WOMAC pain subscale. The maximal isometric force of hip
muscles was recorded with a handheld dynamometer.
Results
Significant group by time interactions were shown for physical function, pain, and
hip muscle force variables. Post hoc tests revealed a significant reduction in hip
pain and significant improvements in physical function and hip muscle strength in
the DN group compared with the sham and control groups. The DN group showed within-
and between-groups large effect sizes (d>0.8).
Conclusions
DN therapy in active MTrPs of the hip muscles reduced pain and improved hip muscle
strength and physical function in patients with hip OA. DN in active MTrPs of the
hip muscles should be considered for the management of hip OA.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
40-m SPW (40-meter self-paced walk), ADL (activities of daily living), ANOVA (analysis of variance), CI (confidence interval), DN (dry needling), ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient), MCID (minimal clinically important difference), MTrP (myofascial trigger point), OA (osteoarthritis), TUG (timed Up and Go), VAS (visual analog scale), WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities), WOMAC-P (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities physical pain subscale), WOMAC-PF (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities physical function subscale)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 07, 2021
Footnotes
Clinical Trial Registration No. NCT04195464.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
