Periosteal Dry Needling for Thumb CMC Osteoarthritis

Physical therapists, and physical therapist assistants working under the direction of a physical therapist, who see patients with painful thumb base arthritis and want a clear account of what this case series reported about periosteal dry needling.

Physical therapists; physical therapist assistants under the direction of a physical therapist; hand therapists and other licensed rehabilitation clinicians managing carpometacarpal osteoarthritis of the thumb.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course is based on a single open-access publication and introduces no claim the paper does not support.

Staehli Wiser, A.; Dunning, J.; Charlebois, C.; Bliton, P.; Mourad, F. Periosteal Dry Needling for Carpometacarpal Osteoarthritis: A Prospective Case Series. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2023, 12, 5678. Published 31 August 2023. Open access under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.

Author disclosures reported in the paper

The lead author was a fellow-in-training in the American Academy of Manipulative Therapy (AAMT) Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy fellowship program at the time of data collection. One co-author directs that fellowship program, and three co-authors are AAMT instructors; AAMT provides postgraduate dry needling and manual therapy training. The paper reports no external funding for the study, and the hospital provided the facility and treatment supplies.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the patients enrolled in this case series and the periosteal dry needling protocol they received, including the number of sessions and the time frame over which they were delivered.
2. State what the authors reported for thumb pain, upper extremity function, and patient-rated global change from baseline through the 12-week follow-up, and what they reported about side effects.
3. Explain why the authors said a cause-and-effect conclusion cannot be drawn from these results, and name the limitations they identified.

1. Start Here: course overview, objectives, and how to earn credit
2. Podcast: Needling the Thumb Base — What Nine Patients Reported (about nine minutes)
3. Thumb Base Arthritis and the Question Behind This Case Series
4. Nine Patients, Six Sessions, Eight Needle Points
5. Pain, Function, and Global Change Through 12 Weeks
6. Why the Authors Stopped Short of Cause and Effect
7. How This Sits Beside the Earlier Acupuncture Trials
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-test and course evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course is based on a single open-access publication and introduces no claim the paper does not support.
2. Staehli Wiser, A.; Dunning, J.; Charlebois, C.; Bliton, P.; Mourad, F. Periosteal Dry Needling for Carpometacarpal Osteoarthritis: A Prospective Case Series. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2023, 12, 5678. Published 31 August 2023. Open access under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
3. Author disclosures reported in the paper
4. The lead author was a fellow-in-training in the American Academy of Manipulative Therapy (AAMT) Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy fellowship program at the time of data collection. One co-author directs that fellowship program, and three co-authors are AAMT instructors; AAMT provides postgraduate dry needling and manual therapy training. The paper reports no external funding for the study, and the hospital provided the facility and treatment supplies.