Evaluation of the Immediate Effect of Auricular Acupuncture on Pain and Electromyographic Activity of the Upper Trapezius Muscle in Patients with Nonspecific Neck Pain: A Randomized, Single-Blinded, Sham-Controlled, Crossover Study

Abstract

Background. The aim of the present study was to assess the immediate effects of auricular acupuncture (AA) on the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the upper trapezius muscle and pain in nonspecific neck pain (NS-NP) patients. Twelve patients with NS-NP (NS-NP group) and 12 healthy subjects (HS Group) were enrolled in a randomized, single-blinded, crossover study. Each subject received a single session of AA and sham AA (SAA). Surface EMG activity was measured in the upper trapezius muscle at different “step contractions” of isometric shoulder elevation (15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% MVC). The outcome measure in patients with NS-NP was based on the numerical pain rating scale (NRS). AA treatment led to a significant decrease in EMG activity in both groups (NS-NP group: p = 0.0001; HS group: p < 0.0001—ANOVA test). This was not the case for the SAA treatment (NS-NP group: p = 0.71; HS group: p < 0.54). Significant decreases (p < 0.001) in the NRS were found for both treatments (AA and SAA). This study demonstrated the immediate effect of auricular acupuncture on the electromyographic activity of the upper trapezius muscle but the effect of this intervention on pain symptoms in patients with nonspecific neck pain was inconclusive.

Acupuntura auricular para dor crônica nas costas em adultos: revisão sistemática e metanálise

“…A total of 930 individuals participated in the selected studies, with age varying from 18 to 90 years of age, whereas 462 were in the groups that received auricular acupuncture, and 468 were in the control groups. All participants presented chronic pain conditions (8) , whereas the lumbar spine was the most affected region (n=10), (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) followed by the cervical region (n=3) (27)(28)(29) , and the dorsal region as a whole (n=2) (30)(31) .…”

“…Regarding the RCT methodological quality, all studies reported using the random sequence generation method, and in just three this process was not appropriate (23)(24)(25) . In two RCT (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) there was no description of masking, and in other two (24)(25) this masking was considered inadequate. There was no description of loss to follow-up in three RCT (20,23,27) .…”

“…In two RCT (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) there was no description of masking, and in other two (24)(25) this masking was considered inadequate. There was no description of loss to follow-up in three RCT (20,23,27) . Therefore, 90% (n=9) of the studies (17)(18)(19)(21)(22)26,(28)(29)31) obtained score five in the Jadad score; 13.3% (n=2) (20,27) obtained score four; 6.7% (n=1) (30) obtained score three; and 20% (n=3) (21)(22)(23)(24)(25) obtained score one.…”

Utilização de Técnicas da Medicina Tradicional Chinesa (MTC) para Analgesia da Cervicalgia em Adultos: Revisão Sistemática

“…Os estudos que abordaram a auriculoterapia o fizeram de formas diferentes. No estudo de Silva et al 18 o tratamento foi aplicado nos pontos "cintura escapular" e "ombros", com o objetivo de avaliar a dor cervical dos pacientes e ainda verificar a resposta eletromiográfica do músculo trapézio superior à aplicação da auriculoterapia. No estudo de Chassot et al 8 foram utilizados os pontos shen men e relaxamento muscular de forma complementar ao foco principal do estudo, que era o efeito da eletroterapia na região cervical e seus efeitos na liberação do marcador BDNF.…”

Contribution of Chinese and French ear acupuncture for the management of chronic back pain: A randomised controlled trial

“…The literature presents very convincing scientific evidence on the control of chronic back pain using separately Chinese (Moura et al, 2018;Yeh et al, 2015Yeh et al, , 2014 and French EA approaches (Sator-Katzenschlager et al, 2004, 2003Silva et al, 2015). Although studies clearly based on the Chinese EA bring more accurate results in relation to those following the French line, difficulty is still found in distinguishing which line of treatment is used in the selection of auricular points, since this information is not always explicit in methodology.…”