Effectiveness of ultrasound guided dry needling in management of jumper's knee: a randomized controlled trial

Jumper's knee is highly prevalent condition in athletes. Very limited evidence is available on clinical effects of tendon dry needling. Therefore, the objective of this study is to compare the effects of ultrasound-guided dry needling (UG-DN) combined with conventional physical therapy and conventional physical therapy alone in patients with jumper's knee. A total of 96 patients with pre-diagnosed jumper's knee were randomly assigned to experimental group (UG-DN + CPT) and conventional group (CPT alone) with 48 participants each. Pain intensity and functional disability were recorded using visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment-Patellar Tendinopathy (VISA-P) questionnaire, Lysholm Scale, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) respectively at baseline, at 1st, 2nd, and 4th week. Whereas ultrasonographic features of patellar tendon were measured through musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSKUS) at baseline and 4th week. Total 8 sessions of treatment were provided. Mann Whitney U test and Friedman test were used to compute between and within group differences respectively. P value was significant at 0.05. Results showed that patients in both groups had improvement in signs of jumper's knee but the improvement in UG-DN + CPT group was more significant (p ≤ 0.05). Significant difference was seen after 4 weeks of intervention in UG-DN + CPT group in VAS (Median ± I.Q.R = 3 ± 1, p = 0.000), VISA-P (Median ± I.Q.R = 83.5 ± 7, p = 0.000), KOOS (Median ± I.Q.R = 83.5 ± 8, p = 0.000), , Lysholm (Median ± I.Q.R = 84 ± 5, p = 0.000) than CPT group VAS (Median ± I.Q.R = 1.5 ± 1, p = 0.000), VISA-P (Median ± I.Q.R = 92 ± 2, p = 0.000), KOOS (Median ± I.Q.R = 92 ± 3, p = 0.000), Lysholm (Median ± I.Q.R = 92 ± 4, p = 0.000) and ultrasonographic features of jumper's knee were more significant in experimental group(p-value ≤ 0.05). The Ultrasound guided dry needling with conventional physical therapy of patellar tendon had been found an effective treatment for jumper's knee and helps in reducing pain intensity, improving function and ultrasonographic features in patients with jumper's knee. UG-DN + CPT group showed more significant results as compared to CPT.Trial registration: (IRCT20210409050913N1). Dated: 17.04.2021.