Reduction of chronic non-specific low back pain: A randomised controlled clinical trial on acupuncture and baclofen

Abstract

BackgroundChronic non-specific low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent (80%) and multi-dimensional illness. This study aims to test whether acupuncture, baclofen, or combined treatment with acupuncture and baclofen alleviates symptoms of non-specific chronic LBP in men.MethodsEight-four (84) men aged 50-60 years with non-specific chronic LBP were randomly assigned to four groups: the baclofen group received only baclofen (30 mg/day); the acupuncture group received only acupuncture at selected acupoints; the acupuncture + baclofen group received combined treatment with acupuncture and baclofen treatments; and the control group received no pain reduction treatment. After five weeks of treatment, visual analogue scale (VAS) and self-reported pain disability with the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) were conducted for outcome measures.ResultsAfter treatment, the baclofen, acupuncture and acupuncture + baclofen groups all had lower VAS and RDQ scores. Significantly higher reduction and improvement in VAS and RDQ scores were found in the acupuncture and acupuncture + baclofen groups compared to the baclofen group.ConclusionThe present study indicates that the combined treatment of acupuncture and baclofen is more effective than baclofen treatment alone to reduce pain in patients with non-specific chronic LBP.Trial registration numberACTRN12609000698279

The Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain

“…Five studies examined the effect of acupuncture on pain when compared to no treatment, where no treatment included waitlist control or self-care (6,28,34,39,40). Data were pooled for pain using either VAS or NPS (6,34,39,40), which suggests a significant moderate difference between acupuncture and no treatment immediately post-intervention …”

“…Data were pooled for pain using either VAS or NPS (6,34,39,40), which suggests a significant moderate difference between acupuncture and no treatment immediately post-intervention …”

“…Pain intensity, measured using VAS, was pooled for three studies (6,37,43) that compared acupuncture to medication including NSAIDS, muscle relaxants and analgesics postintervention. Figure 3a indicates that there was a statistical but not clinically relevant …”

“…The majority of symptoms resolve within one month, but between 10-40% of patients develop chronic symptoms lasting more than six weeks. In many cases the underlying aetiology of the pain is unknown, a condition referred to as non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) (4)(5)(6). In the U.S., approximately $91 billion in medical expenses is spent annually for back pain with an additional $50 billion arising from indirect costs due to lost in productivity and disability benefit payments (4,7).…”

Reduced Health Resource Use After Acupuncture for Low-Back Pain

“…4 Conventional medical approaches rarely treat chronic LBP satisfactorily and relieve pain temporarily using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, often augmented by muscle relaxants. 5 Because drugs do not eliminate the pain generators, they can only offer temporary relief and there are adverse effects of medications to consider [6][7][8] ; therefore, many patients seek alternative and complementary treatments to help with their condition. 2,9 Acupuncture is the most commonly used therapy for pain relief 10 and is gaining acceptance within the medical community.…”