Optimal Dosage of Electro Dry Needling for Reduction of Temporal Summation In an Asymptomatic Population

Research Objectives: To assess the optimal dosage of time needed for electro-dry needling (EDN) to produce a significant change in temporal summation (TS).

Design: Cohort study with no follow-up

Setting: Asymptomatic individuals in an University setting.

Participants: 50 asymptomatic participants (33 female, age 26.3 ± 5.09 years). Participants were randomized into 1 of 5 groups, each receiving treatment times ranging from 10 to 30 minutes in 5-minute intervals.

Interventions: EDN was performed along the lumbar paraspinals with one needle inserted lateral to L3 and L5. Frequency was set at 2Hz, and amplitude was altered as needed to maintain participant reported intensity levels between 3-6/10. Duration was matched to the group allocation, ranging from 10 to 30 minutes.

Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measure was the change in temporal summation before and after EDN. To test TS, a Medoc TSA2 thermode was placed just lateral to the L4 vertebra. A series of 10 consecutive pulses of suprathreshold heat stimuli were given at a rate of 2Hz. The participants rated their pain on a scale of 0 to 100 after the 1st and 10th heat pulse. Change in the pain score from the 1st to 10th pulse was used as a measure of TS.

Results: There was a significant main effect of time (F (1, 42) = 94.12, p < 0.001, ƞp2 = .691), indicating that regardless of treatment needle insertion time there was a significant overall reduction in the temporal summation experienced by the participants. The interaction between time and group was nonsignificant (F (4,42) = 1.019, p = .409, ƞp2 = .088) indicating that no group differed in the treatment effect of EDN.

Conclusions: Previous research has demonstrated 30 minutes of EDN to be an effective treatment in LBP. This study demonstrated that the immediate effects of EDN were no different between 10 and 30 min, indicating that clinicians may be able to more efficiently use their time by reducing their treatment duration of EDN.

Author(s) Disclosures: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.