Invasive Physiotherapy as a Treatment of Spasticity: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction Nowadays, a set of novel physiotherapy techniques have emerged, in which the physical agent used to try to reduce spasticity is applied percutaneously, specifically, through the patient’s skin. The aim of this work is to encompass all the invasive techniques used in spasticity in a single article, updating the existing bibliography. Methodology A systematic review was carried out between December 2020 and April 2021 in the Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed databases, selecting the clinical trials that used acupuncture, electroacupuncture or dry needling as a treatment for spasticity. Sixteen clinical trials were included, summarizing all the study characteristics and the outcome measures, at last the evidence was described for their results. Results Most of the studies find a difference of significant decrease in spasticity between the subjects of the experimental groups. Only four studies found no significant changes in spasticity. All the studies are carried out together with the conventional physiotherapy treatment in spasticity. Conclusion Treatment with invasive physiotherapy, combined with conventional physiotherapy, seems to have positive effects in reducing spasticity, although more studies are needed to improve the heterogeneity of the interventions and to assess their long-term effectiveness.