1. Effect of trigger point acupuncture on pain and functional activity in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomised controlled trial.
- Author
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Liu, Hong, Li, Ya-Ping, Hou, Mei-Jin, Huang, Wu-Jie, Chen, Xiao-Lin, Gao, Zhen, and Jiang, Zheng
- Subjects
SKELETAL muscle physiology ,CHRONIC pain treatment ,SPINE physiology ,LUMBAR pain ,QUADRATUS lumborum muscles ,PATIENT aftercare ,KRUSKAL-Wallis Test ,STATISTICS ,PAIN ,RANGE of motion of joints ,SKELETAL muscle ,ACUPUNCTURE ,GAIT in humans ,ONE-way analysis of variance ,FISHER exact test ,MANN Whitney U Test ,TREATMENT effectiveness ,MYOFASCIAL pain syndromes ,FUNCTIONAL assessment ,RANDOMIZED controlled trials ,HYPODERMIC needles ,PEARSON correlation (Statistics) ,DIAGNOSIS ,BLIND experiment ,ACUPUNCTURE points ,CHI-squared test ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,REPEATED measures design ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RESEARCH funding ,MOTION capture (Human mechanics) ,ELECTROMYOGRAPHY ,STATISTICAL sampling ,DATA analysis software ,DATA analysis ,DIGITAL video - Abstract
Background: Trigger point (TrP) acupuncture is commonly used to treat chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP). Evidence for the efficacy of most TrP acupuncture modalities is weak or lacking. Objective: To assess the effect of TrP acupuncture on pain, disability, gait and muscle activation in patients with CNLBP. Methods: From May 2019 to February 2020, a randomised, single-blind clinical trial was carried out involving 33 participants with CNLBP, divided into one of two intervention groups or a control group (n = 11 per group). The intervention groups received TrP acupuncture or traditional acupuncture treatment three times a week for 4 weeks, and the control group remained on a waiting list and received no treatment. Pain, disability, gait and muscle activation were assessed at baseline and at 4 and 8 weeks of follow-up. Results: At baseline, the three groups showed no significant differences in age, gender, height, weight, body mass index (BMI) or disease course (p ⩾ 0.05). At 4 weeks, pain was relieved (measured by visual analogue scores, p = 0.036) and disability was improved (reflected by lower Oswestry disability index scores, p = 0.029) in TrP acupuncture versus waiting list groups. Moreover, lumbar extension range of motion was increased in TrP acupuncture versus both traditional acupuncture and waiting list groups (p = 0.029 and p = 0.027, respectively). At 8 weeks, there were no significant differences in any parameter between the three groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: TrP acupuncture had a significant short-term effect on pain relief and disability in patients with CNLBP, but there was no evidence of a long-term influence (at 8 weeks following the intervention). Further high-quality randomised controlled trials are needed for verification in the future. Trial registration number: ChiCTR1900022838 (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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