Skip to main content

CLINICAL TRIAL article

Front. Med.
Sec. Geriatric Medicine
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1507115
This article is part of the Research Topic Management of Spine Pathologies in Geriatric Patients View all 6 articles

Comparative Clinical Efficacy of Acupuncture Combined with manipulation and Other Non-Pharmacological Interventions in the Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Prospective, Multi-Arm, Randomized, Open-Label, Blinded Endpoint Trial

Provisionally accepted
Fudong Shi Fudong Shi Haibao Wen Haibao Wen *Yuzhang Liu Yuzhang Liu Zuoxu Li Zuoxu Li Jiao Jin Jiao Jin Ning Liu Ning Liu Guojun Wang Guojun Wang Chun Chen Chun Chen Yadi Feng Yadi Feng Hai Lin✉ Hai Lin✉ Shimin Zhang✉ Shimin Zhang✉
  • Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of four intervention methods traditional Chinese Manipulation combined with acupuncture, acupuncture alone, Manipulation alone, and traction-for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH).[Methods]: A prospective, multi-arm, randomized, parallel-controlled clinical trial was conducted between July 2021 and June 2024. A total of 240 eligible LDH patients were randomized into four groups (60 patients per group) in a 1:1:1:1 ratio: Manipulation combined with acupuncture group, Manipulation group, acupuncture group, and traction group. Each treatment lasted for three weeks. Changes in VAS and JOA scores were recorded before treatment, at one and three weeks during treatment, and at one and three months post-treatment. Adverse events were also monitored.[Results]: A total of 210 patients completed the follow-up. At the 3-week (Day 21) and 3-month (Day 111) follow-ups, the acupuncture + Manipulation group showed the most significant improvements, with VAS scores decreasing by 63.34% and 68.30% and JOA scores increasing by 55.17% and 58.33%. The acupuncture group showed VAS score reductions of 55.04% and 59.29% and JOA score increases of 44.52% and 48.29%. The Manipulation group reported VAS score reductions of 51.73% and 55.02% and JOA score increases of 41.16% and 45.27%. The traction group demonstrated the least improvement, with VAS scores decreasing by 43.25% and 45.73% and JOA scores increasing by 30.55% and 33.97%. Statistical analysis indicated that the acupuncture + Manipulation group had significantly better improvements in VAS and JOA scores than the other three groups during treatment and follow-up periods (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the acupuncture and Manipulation groups (P > 0.05), while the traction group showed significantly less improvement compared to the other groups (P < 0.05).[Conclusions]: This study demonstrates that acupuncture combined with spinal manipulation significantly reduces pain and improves lumbar function in LDH patients compared to other tested interventions. The symptom relief rate was significantly higher in the acupuncture + Manipulation group compared to the acupuncture, Manipulation, and traction groups. (Registration number: ChiCTR2200058598).

    Keywords: non-pharmacological interventions, Acupuncture, Manipulation, Randomized controlled, clinical trials

    Received: 07 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shi, Wen, Liu, Li, Jin, Liu, Wang, Chen, Feng, Lin✉ and Zhang✉. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Haibao Wen, Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.