Efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture in treatment of cervical spondylosis

Abstract

Background: Cervical Spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR) is the most common spinal degenerative disease. Its clinical manifestations are pain and numbness in the neck and arm and limitation of neck movement, which greatly affects the life and work of patients. Acupuncture and electroacupuncture are commonly used in China, the efficacy of acupuncture has been confirmed. Existing evidence shows that electroacupuncture seems to be better than acupuncture, but there is a lack of clinical research to directly compare the two. Methods: This is a prospective randomized controlled trial to compare the efficacy of electroacupuncture and acupuncture in the treatment of CSR and to explore the safety and potential mechanism of electroacupuncture in the treatment of CSR. Approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of our hospital, the patients are randomly divided into an experimental group (electroacupuncture group) or control group (acupuncture group). The patients are followed up for 30 days after 4 weeks of treatment. Observation indexes included VAS score, Neck Disability Index, Yasuhisa Tanaka 20 Score Scale, adverse reactions and so on. Finally, the data will be analyzed by SPSS 18.0 software. Discussion: This study will directly compare the advantages and disadvantages of electroacupuncture and acupuncture in the treatment of CSR. The results of this study will help to guide patients with CSR to choose appropriate treatment. Trial registration: OSF Registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/9MKPN

Electroacupuncture Attenuates Neuropathic Pain in a Rat Model of Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy: Involvement of Spinal Cord Synaptic Plasticity

“…Several studies have shown that EA effectively alleviates chronic neck pain and movement impairments induced by spondylotic cervical myelopathy. 32 The analgesic effect appears to be related to the modulation of spinal synaptic plasticity through the suppression of the TNF-α-TNFR1-caspase-8 signal pathway and increased expression of integrin β1 and Akt, which inhibit the apoptosis of annulus fibrosis cells. 33 Our study provided hitherto unreported evidence that LI4 and LR3 acupoints EA intervention effectively alleviated pain and gait impairments by modulating spinal synaptic plasticity.…”

Laser Needle Knife's Effects on Rabbits Cervical Spondylopathy of Vertebral Artery, Fibrinogen, and Blood Viscosity

“…Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) classifies CSA under the category of “dizziness” and “acute necrosis of bone” and is believed to be caused by the insufficient blood and chi, with the weakness in both the liver and kidney, which results in insufficient blood supply to the vertebral artery ( 1 – 3 ). The onset of cervical spondylosis is not only related to age, sex, occupation, but also related to work and lifestyle factors, such as high pillow sleeping, long-term use of computer and mobile phones, working at the desk, the lack of physical exercise, and neck fatigue history ( 4 , 5 ). The patients with cervical spondylosis tends to be recurrent ( 6 , 7 ).…”

HTN: Hybrid Transformer Network for Curvature of Cervical Spine Estimation

“…Abnormal cervical spine curvature is often the first imaging feature of cervical spine degeneration. Therefore, cervical spinal curvature is a widespread clinical method for assessing the state of the cervical spine [2]. Accurate measurement and analysis of cervical spine curvature can provide an essential reference and basis for the early diagnosis of cervical spondylosis.…”