Effects of pain neuroscience education and dry needling for the management of patients with chronic myofascial neck pain: a randomized clinical trial.

Acupunct Med. 2020 May 05;:964528420920300

Authors: Valiente-Castrillo P, Martín-Pintado-Zugasti A, Calvo-Lobo C, Beltran-Alacreu H, Fernández-Carnero J

Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to observe the medium-term effects on pain, disability, and psychological factors of a combination of myofascial trigger point (MTrP) dry needling (DN) with pain neuroscience education (PNE) versus DN alone versus control care as usual (CUC) in patients with chronic neck pain.
METHODS: A total of 60 patients were randomly selected in a Spanish National Health Service Public Hospital and divided into three groups: 6 sessions of DN with 3 sessions of PNE (TrPDN + PNE group, n = 21), 6 sessions of DN alone (TrPDN group, n = 20), or 10 sessions of usual care (CUC group, n = 19). The primary outcome was neck pain intensity, while neck disability, medication intake, and psychological factors were secondary outcomes. These variables were measured at baseline, post-treatment, and at 1 month and 3 months after treatment.
RESULTS: TrPDN + PNE and DN alone were associated with greater reductions in pain intensity and disability compared to CUC (p < 0.01). TrPDN + PNE resulted in greater improvements in kinesiophobia, pain anxiety, and pain-related beliefs than DN alone and CUC (p  0.05).
DISCUSSION: Provision of PNE and DN in the management of chronic neck pain in a Spanish National Health Service Public Hospital was associated with greater improvements in psychological factors than DN therapy only.
CONCLUSION: DN alone was more effective at reducing chronic non-specific neck pain and disability than CUC at 3-month follow-up. However, the inclusion of PNE combined with DN resulted in greater improvements in kinesiophobia, pain anxiety, and pain-related beliefs.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03095365 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

PMID: 32370545 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]