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Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Versus Dry Needling in Non Specific Chronic Neck Pain

NCT06891963 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 60

Last updated 2025-03-24

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This study aims to compare between the effectiveness of Acupuncture-Like Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (Acupuncture-like TENS) and dry needling on pain intensity, Pressure pain threshold (PPT) of upper trapezius myofascial trigger points, neck range of motion, and neck function in patients with non specific chronic neck pain.

Conditions

  • Non Specific Chronic Neck Pain

Interventions

OTHER

Acupuncture-like TENS

The first experimental group will receive 20-minute sessions of TENS, where participants adjust the amplitude to achieve strong muscle twitching beneath the electrodes at an intensity below the pain threshold. Acupuncture-like TENS uses high-frequency pulsed currents at two trains per second with an internal pulse frequency of 100 pps. The pulse pattern is set to "burst," with an asymmetrical biphasic waveform and a pulse duration of 200 µs. Minor fluctuations in pulse rate between 100 and 104 pps were noted using a cathode ray oscilloscope before the experiment.

OTHER

Dry needling

The second experimental group will receive 20-minute sessions of dry needling. Patients will be positioned in a prone, relaxed position, and the overlying skin will be cleaned with alcohol. The muscle will be palpated to locate the trigger point (MTrP), with the muscle grasped between the thumb, index, and middle fingers. A solid filiform needle within a guide tube will be inserted into the MTrP using a tapping motion at an oblique angle. The upper trapezius muscle will be palpated for trigger points, with needle insertion depths ranging from 10-15mm. After obtaining a local twitch response, the needle will be moved vertically 3-5mm until no more twitch responses occur. This group will also receive 20 minutes of conventional physical therapy.

OTHER

Conventional treatment

All participants in the three groups will receive conventional treatment in the form of hot pack treatment followed by active range of movement (AROM) exercises. A hot pack will be placed on the patients cervical, paraspinal, and upper thoracic areas (including the upper trapezius muscle with aMTrP) for 20 minutes. This will be followed by AROM exercise for cervical spine joints. Participants were asked to actively flex the neck so that the head dropped toward the contralateral trapezius muscles. Patients then rotated the head toward ipsilateral side. This exercise will be repeated five times.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Cairo University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Neveen Abdel Latif Abdel Raoof, PhD · Professor, Cairo university

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
20 Years
Max Age
40 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-03-25
Primary Completion
2025-05-25
Completion
2025-05-31

Countries

  • Egypt

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06891963 on ClinicalTrials.gov