Authors
Xinyi Yuan, Ziwen Wang, Huiru Zhang, Yongqiang Li, Dianhuai Meng
Published in
Complementary therapies in medicine. Pages 103420. Aug 15, 2026. Epub Aug 15, 2026.
Abstract
To assess the effectiveness of dry needling (DN) in reducing spasticity among post-stroke patients through meta-analysis.
PubMed, Web of Science, PEDro, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and Embase were searched up to April 2026, alongside manual searches of reference lists.
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving adults (>18 years) with post-stroke spasticity, investigating DN alone or as part of a multimodal intervention, were included.
Two reviewers independently extracted data, primarily focusing on changes in the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and the Modified Modified Ashworth Scale (MMAS).
Eleven RCTs (276 patients) were included. Overall, DN significantly reduced spasticity compared to the control group (mean difference [MD] = -0.65). DN was effective for both upper (MD = -0.40) and lower limbs (MD = -1.02), with the most robust effect in ankle plantar flexors (MD = -1.05). Significant improvements occurred whether DN was compared to sham interventions (MD = -0.45) or added to conventional neurorehabilitation (MD = -0.76). While study quality was generally high (PEDro scores 5-9/10), GRADE certainty was Moderate to Low due to small sample sizes and blinding bias.
DN is an effective short-term intervention and a potent adjunct to standard rehabilitation for reducing post-stroke spasticity in both upper and lower extremities. Further research is needed to evaluate its long-term functional impact.
PMID:
42603654
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Aug 2026.
Read full publication at:
Please sign in
to see all details.
Advertisement
Stats
- Recommendations n/a n/a positive of 0 vote(s)
- Views 1
- Comments 0