Effectiveness of Korean Medical Treatments, Including Motion-Style-Acupuncture-Treatment Using Traction, on Inpatients with Low Back Disability: A Retrospective Chart Review

Abstract

Objectives Low back disability, along with low back pain, places a significant social burden in terms of work loss and medical expenses. Motion-Style-Acupuncture-Treatment using Traction (T-MSAT) is employed as one of the conservative treatments to such conditions. In the present study, effectiveness of Korean Medical treatments, including T-MSAT, was investigated in inpatients with low back disability and low back pain. Methods Among the patients who were admitted between January 2018 to June 2018 with disabled low back function, ones that were treated with T-MSAT were identified. Pain and function were compared at the point of admission and discharge, using Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), respectively. Results Over the hospitalization period of 34.55 days, pain intensity significantly decreased from NRS score of 6.14 to 3.26 and low back function also significantly improved from ODI score of 50.93 to 33.73 upon receiving Korean Medical treatments including T-MSAT. Conclusions Korean Medical treatments including T-MSAT were found to be effective in inpatients with low back disability with a statistical significance. To evaluate the sole effectiveness of T-MSAT, rigorous clinical trials are necessitated in future.

Long-Term Follow-Up of Intensive Integrative Treatment including Motion Style Acupuncture Treatment (MSAT) in Hospitalized Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation: An Observational Study

“…Few studies have evaluated the efficacy of MSAT for LDH [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 40 ]. A study by Shin [ 17 ] compared MSAT single treatment with NSAID injection treatment, and a study by Gang [ 16 ] did not have a control group, and thus there were differences between these and the current study.…”

“…Few studies have evaluated the efficacy of MSAT for LDH [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 40 ]. A study by Shin [ 17 ] compared MSAT single treatment with NSAID injection treatment, and a study by Gang [ 16 ] did not have a control group, and thus there were differences between these and the current study. However, a study by Huh [ 40 ] that classified the participants into either the Korean Medicine integrative treatment group or the Korean Medicine integrative treatment group combined with MSAT is comparable to this study.…”

“…Motion style acupuncture treatment (MSAT) is an acupuncture treatment combined with Daoyin exercise therapy, resulting in complex effects by exposing patients to passive and active movements with the needle inserted [ 15 ]. MSAT is classified as T-MSAT [ 16 ] when using a traction device and H-MSAT [ 17 ] when using a number of medical staff. MSAT is mainly performed for immobile patients due to acute LDH or sprain and has significant effects on recovery and pain reduction [ 17 , 18 ].…”

The Effectiveness and safety of T-MSAT on inpatients with acute low back pain caused by traffic accidents

“…[ 35 , 36 ] T-MSAT used in this study is a type of MSAT that uses traction, and while it is similar to MSAT used in the study by Shin et al [ 16 ] , it uses a specially-made device, instead of a person, to pull the patients body; and has the patient repeat active walking under the supervision of a physician after applying acupuncture to acupoints corresponding to LBP, to achieve reduction in LBP and improvement in lumbar dysfunction. With regard to T-MSAT, there is a study that applied T-MSAT and tested its effect on inpatients with lumbar dysfunction, [ 37 ] but that study had several limitations, including retrospectively analyzing medical records and not clearly classifying LBP.…”

“…For recruitment of participants for the study, drop-out rate and sample size were calculated based on previous RCTs that used MSAT to treat acute LBP. In contrast to existing studies that did not apply criteria for differentiating acute and chronic cases, [ 37 ] or others that established the cause based on comprehensive time of onset, [ 16 ] this study attempted to recruit participants based on a clear criterion of acute LBP occurring within one week after a TA. Consequently, a comparison to other studies on acute LBP would be easy since the patient population was clearly established based on involvement of trauma.…”