Ultrasound‐guided dry needling decreases pain in patients with piriformis syndrome

• Published in: Muscle & nerve 2019-11, Vol.60 (5), p.558-565
• Main Authors: Tabatabaiee, Abbas, Takamjani, Ismail Ebrahimi, Sarrafzadeh, Javad, Salehi, Reza, Ahmadi, Maryam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; disability; Dry Needling - methods; Female; Hip; Humans; Male; Muscles; needles; Pain; Pain Measurement; piriformis muscle syndrome; Piriformis Muscle Syndrome - physiopathology; Piriformis Muscle Syndrome - therapy; pressure pain threshold; Quality of life; Range of Motion, Articular; Treatment Outcome; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonography; Ultrasound; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0148-639X; 1097-4598
• DOI: 10.1002/mus.26671

Introduction Piriformis muscle syndrome (PMS) is a disorder that can lead to symptoms of buttock pain and limited hip‐joint mobility, and may have an impact on quality of life. Methods Thirty‐two patients with PMS were randomized to the treatment group, which included three sessions of ultrasound‐guided dry needling (DN) of the piriformis muscle (n = 16), or a waitlist control group (n = 16). The primary outcome was pain intensity measured on the visual analog scale recorded at baseline and then at 72 hours and 1 week after treatment. Results At 1‐week follow‐up, pain intensity was significantly less in the DN group than in the waitlist control group (−2.16 [−1.01 to −3.32], P = .007) by an amount consistent with clinically meaningful improvement. Discussion The findings suggest that DN resulted in clinically meaningful short‐term improvement in pain intensity of patients with PMS.