Effectiveness of Dry Needling and STM on Pain Management for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (ACLR)

NCT03506685 | Withdrawn

• 1 other identifier: 18KACH002
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: N/A
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if dry needling (DN) and soft tissue mobilization (STM) is superior to standard treatment protocol for affecting pain, pain medication usage and measurements of range of motion (ROM) after ACL reconstruction surgery compared to a standard treatment protocol. Measurements of pain, pain medication usage, lower extremity functional scale (LEFS) and ROM will be taken day 2 post op and 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, and 4 weeks post op. It is hypothesized that the inclusion of DN and STM will acutely decrease the demand for pain medication and improve objective measurements when compared to a standard treatment protocol. Findings will potentially lead to insights as to the benefit of applying these interventions to help decrease the demand for pain medication post-surgery.

Conditions

Pain and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Keywords

dry needling; ACL reconstruction; knee ROM; pain management; opioid use

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Numerical pain rating scale

  validated outcome measure for pain ranging from 0-10

  change from baseline, 2 days post-op, 1 week, 2 week, 3 week, 4 week

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Lower extremity functional scale

  change from baseline, 2 days post-op, 1 week, 2 week, 3 week, 4 week

• Global rate of change

  change from baseline, 2 days post-op, 1 week, 2 week, 3 week, 4 week

• knee range of motion

  change from baseline, 2 days post-op, 1 week, 2 week, 3 week, 4 week

Study Arms (2)

control group Standard ACL protocol

NO INTERVENTION

This group will receive the standard ACL protocol rehab

Dry needling and STM group

EXPERIMENTAL

This group will also receive the standard ACL protocol in addition to STM and DN

Other: Dry needling and STM

Interventions

Dry needling and STM OTHER

dry needling and soft tissue mobilization

Dry needling and STM group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 40 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18-40 Department of Defense( DOD) beneficiaries (17 if Cadet)
• Scheduled for ACL Reconstruction Surgery

You may not qualify if:

• Self-Reported Pregnancy
• History of blood borne pathogens/infectious disease/active infection/metal allergy
• Bleeding disorders or currently taking anti-coagulant medications
• Participants who are not fluent in English

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Keller Army Community Hospital: lead

Study Sites (1)

Keller Army Community Hospital

West Point, New York, 10996, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain; Agnosia

Interventions

Dry Needling

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Perceptual Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics; Physical Therapy Modalities

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: principal Investigator

Model Details: 2x5 mixed model anova

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 30, 2018
• First Posted: April 24, 2018
• Study Start: June 1, 2018
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2019
• Study Completion: June 1, 2019
• Last Updated: September 23, 2025

Record last verified: 2018-04

Locations

US (1)