The Acupunture Treatment of Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Study

Abstract

The acupuncture treatment situation was beneficial to the majority of people with low back pain. This was shown by the use of short-term controls and long-term controls, although the latter were not intended in the study design. After acupuncture, there was a 51% pain reduction in the average pain score in the Immediate Treatment Group. The short-term controls, the Delayed Treatment Group, had no reduction whatsoever in their pain scores at the comparable followup period. Later, the Delayed Treatment Group bere also treated by acupuncturists, and reported 62% less pain. When these two treatment groups were compared at 40 weeks with long-term controls (Inadequate Treatment Group), the Inadequate Treatment Group still had the same pain scores, on the average, as when they enrolled in the study. Both treatment groups, on the average, had 30% lower pain scores. Furthermore, 58% of the treatment groups felt that they were definitely improved at 40 weeks, while only 11% of the Inadequate Treatment Group felt definitely improved at 40 weeks.

A Review of Research on Acupuncture for the Treatment of Lumbar Disk Protrusions and Associated Neurological Symptomatology

“…The proportion of "disc lesions" that had electromyographic study in corroboration of the clinical findings was only presented in four reports (Leung, 1973;Gunn et al, 1980;Maruyama, 1984;Liu Xi-Min et al, 1984: see Table 4). The majority of studies did use X-ray films, with only three of these reporting results in all cases (Leung, 1979;Coan et al, 1980;Gunn et al, 1980) and several others reporting results only as a part of their single-case studies (Wang Qing and Wang Fuchun, 1986;Arseni et al, 1989;Liu Wendou, 1990;Wang Wenliang et al, 1991). This problem was further compounded by the lack of reported clinical information/ tests in some studies.…”

“…In other studies, primarily those from China, it was stated in virtually all the reports that SLR was part of the assessment, but no details were given regarding individual angles except in some single cases (Coan et al, 1980;Maruyama, 1984;Jiang Youguang et al, 1984;Gao Wenjie, 1988;Bi Fugao, 1990;Li Fengbo, 1990;Liu Wendou, 1990;Wang Wenliang et al, 1991;Longworth, 1991;Xin Bochen, 1991). One study reported that just 25% of cases had a positive SLR (Dou Kechen, 1991).…”

“…Up to 85% of patients with low back in-pared to the short-term) have been technique juries were expected to have recovered after 8 based. Coan et al (1980) and Prance et al (1988) weeks regardless of the modality of treatment have criticized studies for using either too few (Gunn et al, 1980), and in this assessment 66% AP treatments (Laitenen 1976;Yuen et al 1976; of patients were assumed "better" within 1 Fox and Melzack 1976), or too few needles month. Other authors have put these figures (Laitenen, 1976;Fox and Melzack, 1976).…”

Acupuncture Pain Research: Quantitative and Qualitative

“…In contrast, in a pragmatic trial, where trial acupuncturists could treat patients in the same manner they would in routine practice, the acupuncturists did not express such constrains-with the exception of two practitioners, who found the number of treatments allowed in the trial treatments to be insufficient [76]. In fact, one study changed its design from sham acupuncture controlled to active treatment controlled trial because the trial acupuncturists considered it unethical to provide the sham treatment [77].…”

Clinical Research on Acupuncture: Part 2. Controlled Clinical Trials, an Overview of Their Methods

“…A number of trials of acupuncture have been conducted claiming that they were testing classic or traditional acupuncture often without description of the actual interventions used and with no citation of any relevant texts (Coan et al, 1980) to substantiate the claim that the treatments they applied were related to a particular tradition (Birch, 1997c). Acupuncture is a diverse medical system with many styles and methods used (Birch, 1998;Birch and Felt, 1999;MacPherson and Kaptchuk, 1997), even within the same tradition of practice (Birch and Sherman, 1999).…”