Influence of Catastrophism in Fibromyalgia Patients Following Dry Needling Treatment

Background: Dry needling trigger point treatment, while painful, has been demonstrated as a useful tool in fibromyalgia patients for decreasing pain and central sensitization. However, the current biopsychosocial pain paradigm indicates that fibromyalgia subjects with high levels of catastrophizing have negative thoughts related with perceived partner responses to pain, which results in an emotional and physical stress after a painful episode. Objective: To assess whether catastrophizing could influence the perception of pain during and after dry needling application. Study design: A singled-blind randomized controlled trial. Setting: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Jaume I Methods: Female fibromyalgia patients and number and age-matched female controls will be recruited and randomly assigned to either a real or a simulated dry needling group. The Spanish version of the pain catastrophizing scale will be used to assess the catastrophizing level of each participant before initiating any of the planned interventions. The perceived pain during and immediately after the dry needling procedure will be measured using the pain visual analogue scale, \[VAS\].