Effect of Acupuncture Treatment on Chronic Low Back Pain with Leg Pain in Aged Patients-A Controlled Trial about Short-term Effects of Trigger Point Acupuncture- / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

[Objective] To compare the efficacies of four types of acupuncture modalities on pain magnitude and disability due to chronic low back pain (LBP) in sciatica patients.<BR>[Design] Single blind randomized controlled trial, 4 parallel arms.<BR>[Setting] Outpatients of the Meiji University of Oriental Medicine Hospital.<BR>[Subjects] Forty-four elderly patients (29 woman, 15 man; age range 65-81 years) with LBP due to sciatica persisting for at least 6 months.<BR>[Interventions] Subjects were randomly allocated to one of four groups. The standard acupuncture group (SA, n=9) received acupuncture on traditional acupoints used for treatment of LBP. Superficial trigger point acupuncture group (S-TrP, n=9) and deep trigger point acupuncture group (D-TrP, n=10) received superficial (S-TrP) or deep (D-TrP) needling of the trigger points. Sham acupuncture group (SM, n=9) was treated by mimicked needling without insertion of the needle in the trigger point. Acupuncture sessions were performed once a week for 3 weeks.<BR>[Main Outcome Measures] Pain intensity (visual analogue scale VAS) and QOL (Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire RDQ).<BR>[Results] At the end of the treatment period, significant improvement was observed on pain intensity and QOL in the D-TrP group alone (p<0.01). Furthermore, the effects persisted during the 3-week follow-up (p<0.05) [Conclusion] These results suggest that trigger point acupuncture with deep needling provides effective treatment for low back pain in aged patients.