INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT OF MIGRAINE AND OTHER HEADACHES AT CLINICAL HOSPITAL CENTER RIJEKA: research

UVOD: Migrena je rašireni neurološki poremećaj koji pogađa oko milijardu ljudi diljem svijeta, ali do prepoznavanja njezinog učinka na javno zdravlje došlo se tek oko 2000. godine. Akupunktura, koja je važna komponenta tradicionalne kineske medicine, koristi se za liječenje glavobolje u istočnoazijskim zemljama tisućama godina. Međutim, do sada nema dostupnih dokaza koji kvantitativno procjenjuju opseg učinka očekivanja pacijenata i povjerenja akupunkturista u akupunkturno liječenje migrene. Akupunktura ima mnoge prednosti u liječenju boli, pa tako i migrenske i glavobolja općenito, stoga je svrha ovog istraživanja utvrditi koliko je ova metoda učinkovita među pacijentima i kakvi su rezultati liječenja, s posebnim osvrtom na migrene i glavobolje. CILJ ISTRAŽIVANJA: Ciljevi ovog istraživačkog rada su utvrditi pojavnosti migrene i glavobolje s obzirom na spol i dob pacijenata, te utvrditi učinkovitost akupunkturnog liječenja migrene i glavobolje u Ambulanti za palijativnu medicinu i liječenje boli, na lokalitetu Rijeka i lokalitetu Sušak u sklopu Klinike za anesteziologiju, intenzivnu medicinu i liječenje boli. ISPITANICI I METODE: Istraživanje je provedeno retrospektivno. Podaci za ovo istraživanje (spol, dob, medicinska dijagnoza i učestalost liječenja akupunkturom) prikupljeni su iz baze podataka KBC-a Rijeka dostupne putem integriranog bolničkog informatičkog sustava i medicinske dokumentacije pohranjene u arhivi Ambulante za palijativnu medicinu i liječenje boli, Klinike za anesteziologiju, intenzivnu medicinu i liječenje boli, KBC-a Rijeka, na lokalitetima Rijeka i Sušak. Ishodi liječenja procijenjeni su kroz učestalost migrena prije i poslije tretmana. REZULTATI: Najveći broj pacijenata kod kojih su dijagnosticirane migrene su imali migrene tipa G43 (75%). Među 50 ispitanika bilo je 76% žena i 24% muškaraca. Najveći broj pacijenata je starosne dobi 36-50 godina (36%). Srednja životna dob pacijenata je 50,50 godina. Srednji broj migrena prije liječenja je 3 dana mjesečno (36 dana godišnje), dok je nakon liječenja broj migrena smanjen na 1,50 dan migrena (18 dana godišnje). ZAKLJUČAK: Tretman boli akupunkturom itekako je učinkovit, jer dokazano smanjuje učestalost napada migrene za 50%. Također potvrđena je teza da su žene sklonije migrenskim glavoboljama. Zbog malog broja ispitanika nismo uspješno potvrdili hipotezu vezanu uz dob, iako podaci o ukupnom broju pacijenata liječenih u Ambulanti za bol idu u prilog da je i ta hipoteza točna.
INTRODUCTION: Migraine is a widespread neurological disorder that affects about one billion people worldwide, but its effect on public health was not recognized until around 2000. Acupuncture, which is an important component of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been used to treat headaches in East Asian countries for thousands of years. However, to date there is no evidence available that quantitatively assesses the extent of the effect of patient expectations and acupuncturist trust in acupuncture treatment for migraine. Acupuncture has many advantages in the treatment of pain, including migraines and headaches in general, so the purpose of this research is to determine how effective this method is among patients and what the results of the treatment are, with special reference to migraines and headaches. RESEARCH GOAL: The goals of this research work are to determine the incidence of migraine and headache with regard to the gender and age of the patients, and to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment of migraine and headache in the Outpatient Clinic for Palliative Medicine and Pain Management, in the locality of Rijeka and the locality of Sušak as part of the Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and pain treatment. RESPONDENTS AND METHODS: The research was conducted retrospectively. Data for this research (gender, age, medical diagnosis and frequency of acupuncture treatment) were collected from the Rijeka Clinical Hospital Center database available through the integrated hospital information system and medical documentation stored in the archives of the Outpatient Clinic for Palliative Medicine and Pain Management, Clinic for anesthesiology, intensive care medicine and pain management, RCHC, in the locations of Rijeka and Sušak. Treatment outcomes were evaluated through the frequency of migraines before and after treatment. RESULTS: The largest number of patients diagnosed with migraines had migraines of the G43 type (75%). Among the 50 respondents, 76% were women and 24% were men. The largest number of patients is aged 36-50 (36%). The median age of the patients is 50.50 years. The average number of migraines before treatment was 3 days per month (36 days per year), while after treatment the number of migraines was reduced to 1.50 migraine days (18 days per year). CONCLUSION: Pain treatment with acupuncture is very effective, as it has been proven to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks by 50%. The thesis that women are more prone to migraine headaches was also confirmed. Due to the small number of respondents, we did not successfully confirm the hypothesis related to age, although the data on the total number of patients treated in the Pain Outpatient Clinic support that this hypothesis is also correct.