Ultrasound biomarker may predict dry needling success for back pain
NCT ID NCT07133139
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether a special ultrasound test (called the NUN biomarker) can track changes in chronic low back pain after dry needling and predict who will feel better. Researchers will compare real dry needling to a sham (fake) procedure in 80 adults with muscle-related back pain. The goal is to see if the biomarker drops when pain improves and if it can identify people who benefit most from treatment.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 80 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2025
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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20 to 70 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Ages 20-70; * Predominantly axial LBP (meeting NIH definition of cLBP with daily pain for at least 3 months) with a MP component as determined by the standardized examination for MP; * Average pain score of \> 3/10, with low back pain being the primary pain site; * CLBP meeting Quebec Task Force Classification System categories I-III (from axial pain only to pain radiating beyond the knee without neurological signs). Constant radicular pain associated with sensory loss is likely a confounder to dry needling treatment success; * NO HISTORY of receiving dry needling, to improve the effectiveness of the blind; * Demonstration of healthcare seeking at some point for LBP. Exclusion Criteria: * Back surgery within the past six months; * Active workers' compensation or litigation claims, since these patients are more likely to have exaggerated pain behavior; * New pain treatments within 2 weeks of enrollment; * Any clinically unstable systemic illness or condition that is judged to interfere with the trial; * Non-ambulatory status; * Not able to complete the questionnaire * Currently pregnant or have intentions to become pregnant during the study.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Kauffman Medical Building
RECRUITINGPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, United States
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