Ultrasound Guided Dry Needling for Treatment of Patients with Jumper’s Knee: a Study Protocol for Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background. Jumper’s knee, also known as Patellar tendinopathy (PT) is an overuse injury in athletes from various sports especially involving high impact activities. It is degenerative disease, associated with pain and dysfunction in activities that load the patellar tendon. The aim of this study is to find the effects of ultrasound guided dry needling in addition to conventional physical therapy in patients with jumper’s knee. Studies addressing role of ultrasound guided dry needling for tendinopathies in prospective randomized method are currently lacking. Methods. This study is a prospective randomized controlled trial a single blinded study based on SPIRIT guidelines. The measurements will be taken by a blinded assessor. A total of 96 patients with medical diagnosis of Jumper’s knee will participate in this study and will be randomly assigned into two groups in 1:1 allocation ratio to either: a) conventional physical therapy and b) dry needling with conventional physical ther-apy. Functional Outcomes of pain intensity and functional disability at knee joint will be assessed with the Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment for patellar (VISA-P), Knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS scale), Lysholm knee scoring scale and ultrasonographic findings of patellar tendinopathy at baseline, 1st, 2nd and 4th week after baseline. Discussion. Several cohort and case studies have shown encouraging results using this technique, but randomized control trials are lacking. Therefore, this trial has designed to assess the effectiveness of ultrasound guided dry needling for jumper’s knee. Conclusions. The expected outcomes of this study will help us in finding and promot-ing the most appropriate treatment protocol of jumper’s knee and to prevent the correlated results, such as to avoid the recurrences and decreasing the probable effect on the musculoskeletal system. Study registration. Iranian registry of clinical trials (IRCT20210409050913N1). Registered on 17 April 2021-prospectively registered: https://www.irct.ir/trial/55607.