“Tongmai songjin yigu” massage therapy for lumbar spinal stenosis：a randomized controlled trial / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Chinese medicine therapy is effective for patients with mild-to-moderate lumbar spinal stenosis and also has a better long-term effect than surgical patients, which can enhance perioperative efficacy and prevent spinal restenosis. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of “Tongmai songjin yigu” massage therapy on lumbar spinal stenosis. METHODS:Eighty-four patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis were randomly and equaly divided into treatment group and control group. Treatment group were treated with “Tongmai songjin yigu” massage therapy; patients in the control group were treated according to the guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of common disease in orthopedics and traumatology promulgated by China Association of Chinese Medicine, once a day, continuous for 2 weeks. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:After treatment, the visual analog scale score in the treatment group was improved significantly (P < 0.05), and there was a significant difference in the Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores on subjective symptom and daily life between the treatment and control groups (P < 0.05). The effective rate of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group (P< 0.05). These findings indicate that “Tongmai songjin yigu” massage therapy is better than traditional massage, but clinical large-sample studies are required.