Effects of dry needling on functioning and pain relief in patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Purpose: Chronic nonspecific neck pain frequently causes disability and absence from work. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of dry needling (DN) on disability and pain in CNSNP patients. Materials and methods: We performed a systematic search on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science following the PRISMA guidelines. Articles included: patients with CNSNP; intervention as DN (eventually as add-on to physiotherapy); comparison as sham DN, physical therapy or nothing; outcomes, Neck Disability Index and visual analogue scale. A pairwise meta-analysis was conducted to pool the effects of dry needling on reducing disability in people with chronic neck pain. Results: Five studies satisfied our eligibility criteria. The meta-analysis showed that DN analyzed was effective in improving functioning in CNSNP patients but not significantly superior to the control group (MD: 3.51; p = 0.14). However, a pain relief was higher compared to the control group (MD: 0.94; p = 0.05) Conclusion: DN is an effective rehabilitative therapy in pain relief but not superior to physical or manual therapy in terms of functioning in patients with CNSNP. Therefore, further high-quality studies are needed to broaden the research on this mini-invasive approach for neck pain.