Comparison of the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment and local anaesthetic injection for low back pain: a randomised controlled clinical trial.

This trial compared the effectiveness of acupuncture and local anaesthetic injection at the most painful points in patients with low back pain. Acupuncture was superior to local anaesthetic injection for low back pain in terms of immediate, cumulative and sustained effect. The difference in the effects of the two treatments may be due to a difference in the mechanism of pain suppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]