Introduction

Dry needling (DN) has become an increasingly popular treatment in recent years for a number of musculoskeletal dysfunctions, including low back pain (LBP) syndromes. The Five Regulatory Systems (FRS) concept is an innovative strategy for the use of dry needling, which is based on therapeutic mechanisms.

Aim of the research

Evaluation of the effect of dry needling (DN), according to the FRS concept, on gait parameters in patients with chronic LBP.

Material and methods

The study included 40 patients with LBP assigned to the experimental group (n = 20, dry needling + rehabilitation) or control group (n = 20, sham dry needling + rehabilitation). A Zebris FDM-T treadmill was used to objectively measure gait parameters. Measurements were taken before and immediately after the intervention and at 1- and 3-month follow-ups.

Results

After the treatment, there was no significant improvement in gait in patients in both groups, at both 2 and 4 km/h. There were no differences between the comparison groups for both walking speeds (p > 0.05 in all analyses). There were beneficial changes in peak linear velocity during patient ambulation (foot propulsion on the treadmill during walking). However, there were no differences between the comparison groups (p > 0.05 in all analyses).

Conclusions

Dry needling according to the FRS concept does not have a beneficial effect on improving gait parameters in patients with chronic LBP.