Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02032602

Dry Needling on Myofascial Trigger Points in Older Adults With Nonspecific Shoulder Pain

Background: Non-specific shoulder pain has a high prevalence in older adults and provokes functional alterations. Besides, there are difficulties for its clinical diagnosis, lack of effectiveness in the treatment and not much evidence is found regarding invasive physical therapy techniques in this population.

Purpose: To determine the efficacy of a single physical therapy intervention with deep dry needling on latent and active myofascial trigger points in older adults with non-specific shoulder pain.

Methods: Pilot Study, Single Blind Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial on 60 subjects aged 65 and over, will be diagnosed with nonspecific shoulder pain. The study will be approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the area. Sample will be recruited at their home and at a care center, and randomly will be distributed in Experimental Group (n=30), which will be received a session of Deep Dry Needling on an active and a latent Myofascial Trigger Points of the infraspinatus muscle; and Control Group (n=30), receiving a session of Deep Dry Needling only on an active Myofascial Trigger Point. A blind examiner will be evaluated Pain Intensity, Pain Pressure Threshold (anterior deltoid; extensor carpi radialis brevis) and Grip Strength, before, immediately after intervention and after a week of treatment.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Shoulder Pain Arthralgia Joint Diseases Muscular Diseases Musculoskeletal Diseases Myofascial Pain Syndromes Neurologic Manifestations Pain Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

65 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Alcala

Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, E-28871, Spain

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • people aged 65 or over with uni or bilateral non-specific shoulder pain and with at least one active and one latent MTrP in the infraspinatus homolateral to the painful shoulder

Exclusion criteria

  • prior diagnosis of myopathy or neuropathy; cognitive deficit in the medical record; cervical spine, rotator cuff tendons or glenohumeral joint problems in the medical record; corticoid infiltration or local anaesthetic during the previous year or during follow-up; surgical procedure affecting the upper limb or preceding cervical; ingestion of antiaggregant, anti-coagulant, analgesic or anti-inflammatory medication or abusive substances in the week prior to treatment and during follow-up were excluded from the study

Treatment and study plan

Deep Dry Needling

Other

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from baseline in Pain Intensity on the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) at 5 minutes

    Time frame: Baseline, 5 minutes

    Pain Intensity was measured with the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) of 11 points (interval of 0-10), where 0 corresponds to no pain and 10 corresponds to the worst pain imaginable. In order to show a parametric analysis of the obtained data, a graphical representation of 11 spaces describes levels for the discrimination of the patient. The subjects will be asked to determine the subjective pain intensity of the painful shoulder using a finger.

  2. Change from baseline in Pain Pressure Threshold of anterior deltoid at 5 minutes

    Time frame: Baseline, 5 minutes

    Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) will be measured with a WAGNER FDK/FDN Series Force Dial Fisher type analogue algometer (Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, USA) which varies between 0-10 kg/cm2. After indicating the most hyperalgesic latent Myofascial Trigger Point (MTrP) of anterior deltoid muscle (located in referred pain area and with the same C5-6 segmentary innervation levels), examiner will determine PPT of such point.

  3. Change from baseline in Maximum Grip Strength at 5 minutes

    Time frame: Baseline, 5 minutes

    Maximum grip strength, defined as the maximum isometric muscular force in kg used in the manual pressure of a hydraulic dynamometer, will be measured with a JAMAR type hydraulic manual analogical dynamometer with an interval of 0-90kg to objectify the weakness of latent Myofascial Trigger Points (MTrPs) of the forearm. According to the fatigability of older adults, a single measurement will be performed to measure the manual grip strength.

  4. Change from baseline in Pressure Pain Threshold of extensor carpi radialis brevis at 5 minutes

    Time frame: Baseline, 5 minutes

    Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) will be measured with a WAGNER FDK/FDN Series Force Dial Fisher type analogue algometer (Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, USA) which varies between 0-10 kg/cm2. After indicating the most hyperalgesic latent Myofascial Trigger Point (MTrP) of extensor carpi radialis brevis muscle (located in referred pain area and with the same C5-6 segmentary innervation levels), examiner will determine PPT of such point.

  5. Change from baseline in Pain Intensity on the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) at 1 week

    Time frame: Baseline, 1 week

    Pain Intensity was measured with the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) of 11 points (interval of 0-10), where 0 corresponds to no pain and 10 corresponds to the worst pain imaginable. In order to show a parametric analysis of the obtained data, a graphical representation of 11 spaces describes levels for the discrimination of the patient. The subjects will be asked to determine the subjective pain intensity of the painful shoulder using a finger.

  6. Change from baseline in Pressure Pain Threshold of anterior deltoid at 1 week

    Time frame: Baseline,1 week

    Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) will be measured with a WAGNER FDK/FDN Series Force Dial Fisher type analogue algometer (Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, USA) which varies between 0-10 kg/cm2. After indicating the most hyperalgesic latent Myofascial Trigger Point (MTrP) of anterior deltoid muscle (located in referred pain area and with the same C5-6 segmentary innervation levels), examiner will determine PPT of such point.

  7. Change from baseline in Maximum Grip Strength at 1 week

    Time frame: Baseline, 1 week

    Maximum grip strength, defined as the maximum isometric muscular force in kg used in the manual pressure of a hydraulic dynamometer, will be measured with a JAMAR type hydraulic manual analogical dynamometer with an interval of 0-90kg to objectify the weakness of latent Myofascial Trigger Points (MTrPs) of the forearm. According to the fatigability of older adults, a single measurement will be performed to measure the manual grip strength.

  8. Change from baseline in Pressure Pain Threshold of extensor carpi radialis brevis at 1 week

    Time frame: Baseline, 1 week

    Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) will be measured with a WAGNER FDK/FDN Series Force Dial Fisher type analogue algometer (Wagner Instruments, Greenwich, USA) which varies between 0-10 kg/cm2. After indicating the most hyperalgesic latent Myofascial Trigger Point (MTrP) of extensor carpi radialis brevis muscle (located in referred pain area and with the same C5-6 segmentary innervation levels), examiner will determine PPT of such point.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Alcala

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Efficacy of Dry Needling on Myofascial Trigger Points in Adults Over 65 Years Old With Non-specific Shoulder Pain: Single Blind Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Important dates

Study start
2014
Primary completion
2014
Study completion
2014
First posted
Jan 10, 2014
Registry last updated
Aug 18, 2014

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.