Effects of Dry Needling on Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome in Women: A Critically Appraised Topic

Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is one of the most common anterior knee pains and affects 3-6% of people in the US. Dry needling (DN) is known to have many positive implications such as increased blood flow, neural response, and pain control. However, the overall effect of DN on pain outcomes and functional measures in female patients has not been well researched. The purpose of this review paper was to determine the efficacy of DN on PFPS in the female population by assessing patient-oriented outcomes and functional measures. Results: A variety of databases were used to conduct the search for relevant studies. The literature search identified 788 potential studies, three of which met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. These studies compared the use of DN to other therapies such as lumbopelvic manipulation (LM), ischemic compression (IC), and conventional physiotherapy. Each article determined the effectiveness of treating symptoms of PFPS by measuring pain outcomes and overall function. Of the three studies, only one found a statistically significant difference in pain outcomes on the numeric pain rating scale and Kujala questionnaire. The other two reported that improvements in pain reduction and functional performance were seen in patients but there was no significant difference. However, all three articles noted that using DN in combination with another therapy may yield greater results compared to using DN alone. The Pedro and CEBM scales were used to determine the quality and validity of the studies included in this paper. Conclusion: Grade B evidence shows confounding evidence of implementing DN as a method to help decrease pain measures in women with PFPS. Current evidence suggests that DN is an effective treatment in addition to other therapies to improve the symptoms of PFPS in the female population. However, further research should be conducted looking at DN alone to reinforce these findings.