NCT03838224

A Single Dry Needling Session of the Obliquus Capitis Inferior for the Altered Sensorimotor Function in People With Neck Pain

Completed NA Last updated 13 August 2019

What this trial tests

NA trial testing dry needling in Whiplash Syndrome in 40 participants. Completed in 30 June 2019.

Timeline

12 March 2019

Primary endpoint
15 June 2019

30 June 2019

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University of Valencia
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	quadruple
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	40
Start date	12 March 2019
Primary completion	15 June 2019
Estimated completion	30 June 2019
Sites	1 location across Spain

Drugs / interventions tested

• dry needling
• Sham needling

Conditions studied

• Whiplash Syndrome — all drugs for Whiplash Syndrome →
• Neck Pain — all drugs for Neck Pain →

Sponsor

University of Valencia

Who can join

Adults 18 to 65, any sex, with Whiplash Syndrome or Neck Pain. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Neck pain is the 3rd cause of disability worldwide and represents an enormous socioeconomic burden. It has been reported that people with neck pain, with traumatic and non-traumatic onset, have an alteration of the sensorimotor function compared to pain-free people, such as deficits in the head and neck repositioning or alteration of the body balance. It has been suggested that alterations on the proprioception of the suboccipital muscles may cause a decrease in head and neck repositioning accuracy and changes in head and neck positioning patterns. The suboccipital muscles, particularly the obliquus capitis inferior (OCI), has a greater density of muscular spindles compared to lower cervical segments, which is believed to play an important role in the proprioception. The alteration of the JPE is more often found in patients with a dysfunction in the upper cervical spine, but people with lower dysfunction can also exhibit it. However, no conclusive results on JPE have been reported with articular techniques targeting the upper cervical spine. On the contrary, positive results on this test have been observed after the retraining of the upper cervical muscles. As OCI is a deep muscle, dry needling seems to be the most appropriate passive modality of treatment to target that muscle and restore the abnormal cervical sensorimotor control. However, this hypothesis has never been tested.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Effects of dry needling of the obliquus capitis inferior on sensorimotor control and cervical mobility in people with neck pain: A double-blind, randomized sham-controlled trial.
   Murillo C, Treleaven J, Cagnie B, Peral J, et al · · 2021 · cited 6× · PMID 34535409 · DOI 10.1016/j.bjpt.2021.07.005