Feasibility of Near-infrared Spectroscopy to Measure Cortical Pain Pathway (Brain) Activation During Dry Needling

Completed · Early Phase 1 · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Shoulder Pain, Chronic Pain, Musculoskeletal Injury

In brief

The benefit experienced by some patients when treated with dry needling,1 combined with the field-expedient nature of this intervention, make dry needling uniquely suited for the military healthcare environment. An improved understanding of the mechanism by which dry needling exerts its clinical benefits will allow clinicians to adopt more efficacious treatment strategies for Soldiers with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The proposed study will utilize functional near-infrared spectroscopy and structural health monitoring (SHM) to provide insight on the central and peripheral mechanisms of dry needling. Phase 1 will compare the cortical pain pathway response of thirty participants with non-traumatic shoulder pain receiving either true or sham dry needling. An additional 15 participants will be enrolled to receive true dry needling to determine if brain responses may be able to predict clinical improvement (responders versus non-responders) in phase 2. Since chronic pain after musculoskeletal injury is the leading cause of medical discharge from service and a primary source of disability in the U.S. military2,3, improved complementary and alternative treatment strategies have the potential to have a large impact on both military readiness and health care costs within the Armed Forces.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04170803

Run by

Army-Baylor University Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy

People needed

18

Starts

2019-01-08

Expected to finish

2020-07-24

Last updated by the study team

2020-07-28

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 50. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• (all of the following) Active duty DoD beneficiary Age 18-50 years old Non-traumatic shoulder pain rated at least 4/10 on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale Right-handed

You may not qualify if…

• Anticoagulant medication use Bleeding disorders Shoulder pain referred from cervical spine Full-thickness rotator cuff tears Known pregnancy Inability to lie prone Left- or mixed-handed

Where it is running

• Army Medical Department Center and Schools, Ft Sam Houston — San Antonio, Texas, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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