Dry Needling Effects on Cortical Excitability

Status unconfirmed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Low Back Pain

In brief

The investigators plan to use a pre-test post-test research design to investigate whether dry needling (DN) has an effect on cortical excitability in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), specifically in patients who have developed central sensitization (CS). Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to examine the immediate effects of a single session of DN on cortical excitability and neurosensory responses in patients CLBP. There are two specific aims: 1) to examine whether a single session of DN will change cortical excitability corresponding to the lumbar multifidus (LM) muscle, and 2) to examine whether a single session of DN will change neurosensory responses to the stimuli applied to the LM muscles. The investigators also are interested in exploring whether DN has a differential effect on cortical excitability in patients with CLBP who have developed CS vs. those who have not developed CS. Therefore, the secondary purpose of the study is to compare the immediate effects of a single session of DN on cortical excitability between patients with CLBP who have developed central sensitization (CS) and those who do not have CS. The specific aim is to compare cortical excitability corresponding to the LM in participants with and without CS after a single session of DN.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT05111691

Run by

Texas Woman's University

People needed

50

Starts

2022-03-01

Expected to finish

2023-05-31

Last updated by the study team

2022-07-06

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Adults 18-65 years of age
• Have chronic low back pain primarily in the L4-5 area that has persisted at least 3 months and has resulted in pain on at least half the days in the past 6 months

You may not qualify if…

• Systemic joint disease (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis arthritis)
• Fracture
• Infection
• Tumor
• Neurological disorders (e.g., radiculopathy, myelopathy, cauda equina syndrome)
• Cancer
• Raynaud's disease
• Pregnancy, previous low back surgery
• Immunocompromised disease (e.g., diabetes mellitus, HIV, AIDS, lupus)
• Bleeding disorders (e.g. hemophilia)
• Use of anti-coagulants (e.g. Coumadin)
• A history of significant head trauma
• An electrical, magnetic, or mechanical implantation (e.g. cardiac pacemakers or intracerebral vascular clip)
• A metal implantation in the head and neck areas,
• A history of seizures or unexplained loss of consciousness
• An immediate family member with epilepsy
• Use of seizure threshold lowering medicine
• Current abuse of alcohol or drugs
• A history of psychiatric illness requiring medication controls
• Inability to maintain the testing and treatment positions (i.e., slightly leaning forward while sitting and prone-lying) for 15 minutes at a time

Where it is running

• Texas Woman's University — Dallas, Texas, United States (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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