Intratissue percutaneous electrolysis and deep dry needling compared to a standard physiotherapy protocol in the treatment of whiplash syndrome: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
Rocío Fernández-Navarro, María Benito-de-Pedro, Francisco-Manuel Navarro Reyes and 3 others
PMID 41255411WHAT IT FOUND
This is a study protocol for a pilot trial, not a report of results.
It describes plans to test if adding electrolysis or dry needling to standard physiotherapy helps whiplash patients, but no patients have been treated or outcomes measured yet.
STILL TO COME
How it was done
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What it does not show
The study has not been conducted; no data has been collected or analyzed. The planned sample size of 36 participants is explicitly acknowledged as insufficient for statistical power, limiting the future trial to a pilot feasibility study. The primary outcome measure (intrafibrillar blood flow) is assessed indirectly via Doppler ultrasound, which measures perfusion of adjacent small vessels rather than blood flow within the muscle fibers themselves. Recruitment is limited to a specific geographic location (Melilla) and a specific patient population (traffic accident victims with insurance agreement), which may limit generalizability.
Declared interests
The authors declare no financial support was received for the research or publication. The materials for the intervention are provided and funded by the principal investigator.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this paper as evidence that electrolysis or dry needling is effective for whiplash. It is a protocol describing a future study, so it contains no results, no effect sizes, and no clinical outcomes to act on.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →