Use the Back button in your browser to see the other results of your search or to select another record.

Detailed Search Results

A pragmatic randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness and safety of pharmacopuncture for chronic lower back pain
Park KS, Kim C, Kim JW, Kim SD, Lee JY, Lee YJ, Lee J, Kim MJ, Choi YE, Yang C, Han C-H, Ha I-H
Journal of pain research 2023 Aug 3;16:2697-2712
clinical trial
8/10 [Eligibility criteria: Yes; Random allocation: Yes; Concealed allocation: Yes; Baseline comparability: Yes; Blind subjects: No; Blind therapists: No; Blind assessors: Yes; Adequate follow-up: Yes; Intention-to-treat analysis: Yes; Between-group comparisons: Yes; Point estimates and variability: Yes. Note: Eligibility criteria item does not contribute to total score] *This score has been confirmed*

PURPOSE: Chronic lower back pain (LBP) is a major global health concern. Pharmacopuncture has been widely used to treat LBP in Korea; however, randomized clinical trials (RCT) or active control have not been conducted to evaluate its effectiveness. Therefore, this RCT aimed to compare the effectiveness of pharmacopuncture and physical therapy (PT) for the treatment of chronic LBP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A two-arm, parallel, and multicenter RCT was conducted at four hospitals of Korean medicine. Participants with chronic LBP were randomly assigned at a 1 to 1 ratio using block randomization to undergo 10 sessions of pharmacopuncture or PT over 5 weeks and followed up for 25 weeks. The numerical rating scale (NRS) and visual analog scale scores of LBP and radiating leg pain and the Oswestry disability index (ODI), 5-level EuroQol-5 dimension (EQ-5D-5L), and the patient global impression of change were recorded at baseline and at 6, 13, and 25 weeks. An intention-to-treat analysis was conducted as the primary analysis using a linear mixed model. RESULTS: One-hundred patients (mean age 49.27 years; 58 women) were recruited. At 6 weeks after randomization, pharmacopuncture showed statistically superior results compared with PT in LBP (difference in NRS, 1.54, 95% CI 0.94 to 2.13), function (difference in ODI, 4.52%, 95% CI 0.93 to 8.11%), and quality of life (difference in EQ-5D-5L) scores (-0.05, 95% CI -0.08 to -0.01). This effect persisted for 25 weeks. In the survival analysis for participants with at least a 50% reduction in the NRS scores of LBP during the 182 day follow-up, the pharmacopuncture group showed significantly faster recovery than the PT group (p < 0.001, Log rank test). CONCLUSION: Pharmacopuncture significantly reduced pain and improved functional outcomes and quality of life in patients with low back pain compared with physical therapy. Based on the findings of this study, pharmacopuncture could be recommended as a treatment for patients with chronic low back pain.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help