Dry Needling Versus Manual Therapy for Mechanical Neck Pain: A Target Trial Emulation Using Electronic Health Records

Pain Res Manag. 2026;2026(1):e3221855. doi: 10.1155/prm/3221855. ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of dry needling versus manual therapy on disability in mechanical neck pain by emulating a target trial using electronic health record data from three tertiary hospitals in China. DESIGN: This target trial emulation used a new-user, active-comparator design with alignment at time zero. […]