Effectiveness of dry needling for myofascial trigger points associated with neck and shoulder pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate current evidence of the effectiveness of dry needling of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) associated with neck and shoulder pain. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, EBSCO, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, ScienceDirect, The Cochrane Library, ClinicalKey, Wanfang Data Chinese database, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, Chinese Chongqing VIP Information, and SpringerLink databases were searched from database inception to January 2014. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized controlled trials were performed to determine whether dry needling was used as the main treatment and whether pain intensity was included as an outcome. Participants were diagnosed with MTrPs associated with neck and shoulder pain. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently screened the articles, scored methodological quality, and extracted data. The results of the study of pain intensity were extracted in the form of mean and SD data. Twenty randomized controlled trials involving 839 patients were identified for meta-analysis. DATA SYNTHESIS: Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan version 5.2 and Stata version 12.0. The results suggested that compared with control/sham, dry needling of MTrPs was effective in the short term (immediately to 3 days) (standardized mean difference [SMD]=-1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], -3.10 to -.73; P=.002) and medium term (SMD=-1.07; 95% CI, -1.87 to -.27; P=.009); however, wet needling (including lidocaine) was superior to dry needling in relieving MTrP pain in the medium term (SMD=1.69; 95% CI, .40-2.98; P=.01). Other therapies (including physiotherapy) were more effective than dry needling in treating MTrP pain in the medium term (9-28d) (SMD=.62; 95% CI, .02-1.21; P=.04). CONCLUSIONS: Dry needling can be recommended for relieving MTrP pain in neck and shoulders in the short and medium term, but wet needling is found to be more effective than dry needling in relieving MTrP pain in neck and shoulders in the medium term.

Gelatin­sodium alginate composite hydrogel doped with black phosphorus@ZnO heterojunction for cutaneous wound healing with antibacterial, immunomodulatory, and angiogenic properties.

Hydrogels with novel antimicrobial properties and accelerated wound healing are of great interest in the field of wound dressings because they not only prevent bacterial infections but also fulfill the essential needs of wound healing. In this study, multifunctional hydrogel dressings consisting of black phosphorus nanosheets(BPNS) surface-modified Zinc oxide (BP@ZnO heterojunction) based on gelatin (Gel), sodium alginate (SA), glutamine transferase (mTG), and calcium ions with a three-dimensional crosslinked network were prepared. The BP@ZnO-Gel/SA hydrogel has excellent mechanical properties, hemocompatibility (hemolysis rate: 3.29 %), swelling rate(832.8 ± 19.2 %), cytocompatibility, photothermal and photodynamic antibacterial properties(Sterilization rate: 96.4 ± 3.3 %). In addition, the hydrogel accelerates wound healing by promoting cell migration, immune regulation and angiogenesis. Thus, this hydrogel achieves the triple effect of antimicrobial, immunomodulation and angiogenesis, and is a tissue engineering strategy with great potential.

Preparation of black phosphorus@sodium alginate microspheres with bone matrix vesicle structure via electrospraying for bone regeneration.

Bone matrix vesicles are commonly acknowledged as the primary site of biomineralization in human skeletal tissue. Black phosphorus has exhibited favorable properties across various chemical and physical domains. In this investigation, a novel composite microsphere was synthesized through the amalgamation of sodium alginate (ALG) with black phosphorus nanosheets (BP) utilizing the electrospray (ES) technique. These microspheres were tailored to mimic the regulatory function of matrix vesicles (MV) upon exposure to a biomimetic mineralization fluid (SBF) during the biomineralization process. Results revealed that black phosphorus nanosheets facilitated the generation of hydroxyapatite (HA) on the microsphere surface. Live-dead assays and cell proliferation experiments showcased a cell survival rate exceeding 85 %. Moreover, wound healing assessments unveiled that M-ALG-BP microspheres exhibited superior migration capacity, with a migration rate surpassing 50 %. Furthermore, after 7 days of osteogenic induction, M-ALG-BP microspheres notably stimulated osteoblast differentiation. Particularly noteworthy, M-ALG-BP microspheres significantly enhanced osteogenic differentiation of osteoblasts and induced collagen production in vitro. Additionally, experiments involving microsphere implantation into mouse skeletal muscle demonstrated the potential for ectopic mineralization by ALG-BP microspheres. This investigation underscores the outstanding mineralization properties of ALG-BP microspheres and their promising clinical prospects in bone tissue engineering.