Table 2.
Characteristics of the samples in each included trials.
| Study | Diagnosis | Group | Total (Male/Female) | Age (SD), y | Pain Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ibuldu et al. 2004 [36] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: DN + Self-Stretching | 20 | 35.3 (9.2) | 38.5 (31.95) m |
| G2: Laser + Self-Stretching | 20 | 33.9 (10.35) | 32.95 (28.6) m | ||
| G3: Placebo laser + Self-Stretching | 20 | 32.35 (6.9) | 36.95 (33.65) m | ||
| Itoh et al. 2007 [33] | Chronic Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN | 8 | 62.3 (10.1) | 2.9 (2.7) y |
| G2: Non-TrP-DN | 8 | 65.0 (10.5) | 3.3 (3.9) y | ||
| G3: Sham Acupuncture | 7 | 65.0 (10.5) | 2.3 (1.5) y | ||
| G4: Acupuncture | 8 | 62.3 (11.0) | 3.2 (3.2) y | ||
| Myburgh et al. 2012 [27] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 17 | 46.1 | NR |
| G2: TrP-SDN | 20 | 46.1 | NR | ||
| Tekin et al. 2012 [46] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 22 (5/17) | 42.9 (10.9) | 63.5 (50.7) m |
| G2: TrP-Sham DN | 17 (3/14) | 42.0 (12.0) | 57.9 (48.3) m | ||
| Llamas-Ramos et al. 2014 [32] | Mechanical Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN | 47 (17/30) | 31 (3) | 7.4 (2.6) m |
| G2: TrP-MT | 47 (15/32) | 31 (2) | 7.1 (2.9) m | ||
| Ziaeifar et al. 2014 [35] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 16 | 30.05 (9.9) | NR |
| G2: TrP-MT | 17 | 26.5 (8.6) | NR | ||
| Mejuto-Vázquez et al. 2014 [28] | Acute Mechanical Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN | 9 (4/5) | 24 (7) | 3.4 (0.7) d |
| G2: No intervention | 8 (4/4) | 25 (4) | 3.1 (0.8) d | ||
| Rayegani et al. 2014 [51] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 14 | 32 (10) 38.6 |
9.6 (8.4) m 9.8 (9.6) m |
| G2: Physical Therapy | 14 | (4.2) | |||
| Campa-Mran et al. 2015 [41] | Myofascial Chronic Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN + Passive Stretching | 12 (3/9) | 53.9 (12.7) | 10.0 (2.9) m |
| G2: Soft tissue techniques | 12 (2/10) | 45.8 (15.4) | 11.8 (4.4) m | ||
| G3: MT | 12 (2/10) | 48.7 (10.2) | 14.0 (3.6) m | ||
| Pecos-Martín et al. 2015 [25] | Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN | 36 (6/30) | 23 (5) | 5.7 (2.6) m |
| G2: Non-TrP-DN (Sham) | 36 (8/28) | 23 (6) | 7 (2.8) m | ||
| Aridici et al. 2016 [42] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 31 (5/26) | 40.5 (10.1) | 7.5 (3.0) |
| G2: High power pain threshold ultrasound therapy | 30 (3/27) | 38.1 (11.4) | 7.75 (3.0) | ||
| Segura-Ortí et al. 2016 [50] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 12 (4/8) | 30.0 (9.5) | NR |
| G2: Strain Counter-strain Technique | 10 (3/7) | 34.1 (11.5) | NR | ||
| G3: Sham Strain Counter-strain | 12 (2/10) | 32.9 (9.5) | NR | ||
| Hayta et al. 2016 [37] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 28 (7/21) | NR | NR |
| G2: Kinesiotaping | 27 (3/24) | NR | NR | ||
| Ziaeifar et al. 2016 [23] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 14 (0/14) | 30.1 (10.4) | NR |
| G2: TrP-MT | 17 (0/17) | 26.6 (9.4) | NR | ||
| Fernández-Carnero et al. 2017 [38] | Cervical Myofascial Pain | G1: 4 LTR DN | 21 (7/14) | 29.7 (11.9) | 9.7 (17.0) m |
| G2: 6 LTR DN | 21 (5/16) | 24.25 (9.4) | 16.85 (38.5) m | ||
| G3: +6 LTR DN | 21 (5/16) | 26.45 (10.7) | 19.2 (22.15) m | ||
| G4: Non-TrP DN | 21 (4/17) | 28.2 (11.4) | 8.4 (15.4) m | ||
| De Meulemeester et al. 2017 [40] | Myofascial Neck/Shoulder Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 22 | 40.5 (8.3) | 3: <3m; 19: >3m: |
| G2: TrP-MT | 0 | 36.1 (10.7) | 4: <3m; 16: >3m | ||
| Sobhani et al. 2017 [49] | Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain | G1: DN + Passive stretching | 13 | 34.6 (10.5) | 12.6 (4.4) m |
| G2: MT | 13 | 35.9 (11.4) | 15.1 (7.5) m | ||
| G3: Kinesiotaping | 13 | 34.6 (9.1) | 16.1 (7.6) m | ||
| Luan et al. 2019 [31] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: DN | 32 (11/21) | 33.1 (12.8) | 8.3 (3.1) m |
| G2: Extracorporeal Shock Wave | 30 (8/22) | 32.5 (10.6) | 8.9 (2.7) m | ||
| Dogan et al. 2019 [39] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: DN | 19 | 32.4 (12.4) | 12 (4–48) m |
| G2: Kinesiotaping | 23 | 33.6 (9.1) | 12 (4–60) m | ||
| Manafnezhad et al. 2019 [30] | Non-Specific Neck Pain | G1: DN | 35 | 39.2 (7.2) | 12 (3–60) m |
| G2: Extracorporeal Shock Wave | 35 | 37 (9.1) | 12 (3–80) m | ||
| Martín-Rodríguez et al. 2019 [29] | Non-Specific Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN | 17 (6/11) | 43.6 (12.1) | 88.5 (105.1) m |
| G2: Non-TrP- DN | 14 (4/13) | 42.5 (12.3) | 58.9 (48.5) m | ||
| Tabatabaiee et al. 2019 [47] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: Latent-TrP DN | 20 | 23.6 (1.8) | NR |
| G2: TrP-MT | 20 | 23.5 (1.6) | NR | ||
| G3: Phonophoresis with betamethasone | 20 | 23.9 (3.1) | NR | ||
| Onat et al. 2019 [26] | Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN + Home Exercise Program | 36 (7/29) | 44.1 (14.2) | NR |
| G2: Kinesiotaping + Home Exercise Program | 36 (10/26) | 45.1 (12.5) | NR | ||
| Ziaeifar et al. 2019 [24] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 16 | 30.05 (9.9) | NR |
| G2: TrP-MT | 17 | 26.5 (8.6) | NR | ||
| Sukareechai et al. 2019 [48] | Myofascial Pain Syndrome | G1: TrP-DN | 21 (0/21) | 42.7 (12.4) | 36 (3, 120) m |
| G2: Radial Shockwave | 21 (2/19) | 38.2 (11.9) | 24 (1, 120) m | ||
| Arias-Buría et al. 2020 [43] | Mechanical Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN | 15 (10/5) | 21 (3) | 7.5 (1.3) m |
| G2: TrP-MT | 15 (11/4) | 22 (2) | 8.0 (1.1) m | ||
| Valiente-Castrillo et al. 2020 [45] | Chronic Myofascial Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN | 20 (4/16) | 40.3 (11.95) | 43.4 (56.55) m |
| G2: TrP-DN + pain neuroscience education | 21 (2/19) | 40.35 (8.0) | 64.95 (62.9) m | ||
| G3: Usual Care | 19 (3/16) | 42.35 (9.4) | 56.3 (67.75) m | ||
| García-de-Miguel et al. 2020 [44] | Unilateral Mechanical Neck Pain | G1: TrP-DN | 22 (9/13) | 25.45 (8.5) | >3 m |
| G2: PENS | 22 (7/15) | 24.15 (9.4) | >3 m |
TrP: trigger point, DN: dry needling, SDN: superficial dry needling, G: group, MT: manual therapy, m: months, y: years, d: days, and NR: not reported. PENS: Percutaneous Nerve Electrical Stimulation.