Rapid acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain in the emergency room of the Hospital Servidor Publico Estadual, Brazil: A quasi-experimental study.

Objective: To compare differences in self-reported musculoskeletal pain before and after receiving rapid acupuncture for pain at an outpatient emergency department.
Methods: Exactly 102 patients presenting to the emergency room of the Hospital Servidor Publico Estadual in Sao Paulo, Brazil, participated in this before-and-after study. All participants had musculoskeletal pain and were treated with the technique proposed by Marques Filho. This emergency acupuncture involved inserting a needle at a point defined by traditional Chinese medicine and applying intense stimulation for 10 s; no more than two points were used on any individual patient. Pain was measured using a numerical visual scale before and immediately after the procedure.
Results: Participants in this study were mostly women (78%), had a college degree (47%) and were below the age of 60 (56%). The most common region of pain was the lower back (31%), and the most common type of pain was acute and exacerbated chronic pain. The meridians most commonly involved were the eight extra meridians (40%), and the points most often used for treatment were Houxi (SI3), Shenmai (BL62) and Zulinqi (GB41). Almost all participants reported a decrease in pain intensity, independent of sex, education level, pain site and pain type (acute/chronic; P < 0.05). At the end of the session, only 4% of the participants reported a desire for allopathic medication.
Conclusion: This emergency acupuncture technique for analgesia appears to reduce musculoskeletal pain.
Trial Registration: Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (http://www.ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/) with No. RBR-8dmfjf.
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