Effects of Low Versus High Frequency Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Chronic Neck Pain Patients.

N/ACompletedNCT03401905

Centro Universitario La Salle40 enrolled

Overview

Comparison between high and low frequency percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation as treatment of myofascial chronic neck pain. The main hypothesis is that low frequency treatment will have more hypoalgesic effects than high frequency, and low frequency effects will last longer.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Neck Pain Chronic Pain Myofascial Pain Syndrome

Interventions

Low frequencyPROCEDURE

A dry needling on trapezius muscle is performed, until two local twitch responses are obtained. The needle is kept inside the trigger point, as it will be the negative electrode, and an adhesive electrode will be added as the positive one. After that, a low frequency TENS is applied, at 2 Hz frequency and 120 microseconds of pulse width.

High frequencyPROCEDURE

A dry needling on trapezius muscle is performed, until two local twitch responses are obtained. The needle is kept inside the trigger point, as it will be the negative electrode, and an adhesive electrode will be added as the positive one. After that, a high frequency TENS is applied, at 12o Hz frequency and 200 microseconds of pulse width.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 65 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Neck pain of more than 6 months of evolution. * Pain level of more than 30 millimeter on the VAS scale. * Active myofascial frigger points on upper trapezius muscle. Exclusion Criteria: * Upper limb radiculopathy. * Recent whiplash. * Cervicogenic dizziness. * Migraine. * Previous cervical surgery.

Locations (1)

CSEU La Salle

Madrid, Spain

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Pain

Subjective feeling expressed by subjects in the area of discomfort. It will be measured by a Visual Analogue Scale, meaning a score of 0 points/centimiters "no pain" and a score of 10 points/centimiters "unbearable pain".

Time frame: Changes on pain will be assessed during one month follow up. Baseline will be measured on the first day and one month later pain score will be reassessed.

Secondary Outcomes

Pressure pain threshold

Minimal amount of pressure that induces pain. An algometer will be used to measure pressure pain threshold. Units will be kilograms per square centimeter. The higher the score is, the less sensitive the area will be.

Time frame: Changes on pain will be assessed during one month follow up. Baseline will be measured on the first day and one month later pain score will be reassessed.

Neck disability index.

Ten items questionnaire designed to asses the level of pain and self-assessment of cervical disability. The NDI (Spanish version) is composed of 10 questions related to daily functional activities. NDI presents an acceptable reliability with an intraclass correlation coeffcient (ICC) ranging from 0.50 to 0.98. It has been proposed that the clinically important difference required for NDI is seven points.

Time frame: Pre treatment at the beginning of the study and one month later, on the last of the follow up period.

kinesiofobia

Eleven items questionnaire designed to asses pain-related fear. TSK-11, Spanish version.

Time frame: Pre treatment at the beginning of the study and one month later, on the last of the follow up period.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.