OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of including 1 session of trigger point dry needling (TrP-DN) into a multimodal physiotherapy treatment on pain and function in postoperative shoulder pain. METHODS: Twenty patients (5 male; 15 female; age 58 +/- 12 years) with postoperative shoulder pain after either open reduction and internal fixation with Proximal Humeral Internal Locking System plate plate or rotator cuff tear repair were randomly divided into 2 groups: physiotherapy group (n = 10) who received best evidence physical therapy interventions and a physical therapy plus TrP-DN group (n = 10) who received the same intervention plus a single session of TrP-DN targeted at active TrPs. The Constant-Murley score was used to determine pain, activities of daily living, range of motion, and strength, which was captured at baseline and 1 week after by an assessor blinded to group assignment. RESULTS: Analysis of variance showed that subjects receiving TrP-DN plus physical therapy exhibited greater improvement in the Constant-Murley total score (p < 0.001) and also activities of daily living (p < 0.001) and strength (p = 0.019) subscales than those receiving physical therapy alone. Between-group effect sizes were large in favor of the TrP-DN group (0.97 < SMD < 1.45). Both groups experienced similar improvements in pain (p < 0.001) and range of motion (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that including a single session of TrP-DN in the first week of a multimodal physical therapy approach may assist with faster increases in function in individuals with postoperative shoulder pain.
Reprinted from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics with copyright permission from the National University of Health Sciences.

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